The Masked Habanero
by Dumat
Summary: Fifteen years after the Nine-Tails attack, a comatose Kushina wakes up, is reunited with her son and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero gets her hands on The Mask? What will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but one thing is for sure. She'll look damn good doing whatever it is!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _ **Summary:**_ _ **Kushina Uzumaki survived the fateful night of the Nine-Tails' attack, albeit barely. Fifteen years later she wakes up, is reunited with her now teenaged son, and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero accidentally gets her hands on The Mask and what will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but whatever it is, one thing is for certain: she'll look damn good doing whatever it is!**_

 _ **Credit to my helper/co-author, ncpfan, for helping me out with this story.**_

 _ **This chapter is part of the prologue for this story. The prologue consists of three chapters and although not the most exciting part of the story, it lays the foundations by establishing the differences between the story and canon. The rest of the prologue will be up later this week. By the end of the prologue, you'll have a taste of what's coming though. With that said, enjoy the story and let me know what you think of it!**_

* * *

 **Start of Chapter**

Along the outskirts of Konoha, lay a temple that belonged to the Uzumaki clan – a temple where they had stored a myriad of masks. Inside the temple, a couple of caretakers were tending to the building and its contents.

Unbeknownst to either of them, a dimensional rift appeared in one of the temple's storerooms and a few moments later, a strange object fell out of it before the rift closed up again.

As one of the caretakers was cleaning the floor of the storerooms, her eye suddenly fell on a wooden object. Picking it up, she noticed it was a mask – a wooden mask that featured an iron band from the top of the mask down to where the nose should be.

"Momiji? Have you ever seen this mask here before?" the caretaker asked her fellow caretaker, getting Momiji's undivided attention as she stopped dusting off the oni mask in her hands.

"Hmm? Let me take a look…" Momiji said as she took a look at the strange mask, "Sorry Kureha, I have never seen this mask before. It must be one of the masks the Uzumaki brought to the temple recently, but still…it's strange that this one looks so different."

Kureha just shrugged her shoulders. "Guess it doesn't matter then. I'll just place it with the other masks," she said before placing the mask on one of the shelves in the storeroom where she found it.

"There, that takes care of that. All tidy and neat, but it's out of sight so the view isn't spoiled by one mask sticking out like a sore nail," a satisfied Kureha said, to which Momiji nodded in agreement.

"Yep, now let's get back to work. I don't want to miss dinner like the last time we got sidetracked, you know?" Momiji dryly said, prompting Kureha to quickly nod her head before getting back to what they were doing.

Neither of them realized that the mask they just stored away wasn't brought here by the Uzumaki clan, but was ejected through a dimensional rift in an attempt from one certain Stanley Ipkiss to permanently dispose of this particular mask. They were ignorant of the power the mask conained – power that would someday shake the foundations of Konoha and the rest of the Elemental Nations. But until then, nobody would ever pay the strange wooden mask any attention and nobody would wear it for years to come…

 ************* Line Break *************

It was over. Konoha was safe, and the Nine-Tails has been successfully resealed. Kushina Uzumaki was so tired, barely able to stay on her feet. She could feel consciousness leaving her as she collapsed to one knee. Glancing over to her husband, his vacant, glassy eyes told her all she needed to know – he was dead, his soul taken by the Shinigami. She glanced over to Naruto's tiny form, just a few short yards away, his fusses and cries moving her to action, despite her condition. Willing herself to remain conscious for just a little while longer, she fell to her hands and knees and attempted to crawl towards him.

The effort was grueling, her limbs growing heavier and heavier with each successive movement. It was only the thought of feeding her hungry little baby just once before she expired that kept her going. She felt more and more faint, her vision becoming blurred as color started to fade from her sight, but somehow she kept crawling and dragging her body inch by agonizing inch towards her son. This was the scene that two men whom Kushina knew quite well arrived upon.

"Kushina!" yelled the voice of the older of the pair with relief and surprise.

"Hiru…zen…" she managed to croak out as he bent down towards her, "…can you…bring…my baby…to me?"

Hiruzen wasted no time, quickly fetching the newborn from within the sealing array where he was laying and bringing him to his mother, whom the younger of the pair, one Jiraiya of the Sannin, was holding in a sitting-up position and helping her to remove her shirt as she had directed.

"He's…hungry…" she gurgled out, clenching her eyes shut as a terrible shot of pain coursed its way from her back and stomach through the rest of her body, before she added with a weak, loving and sad smile, "…he needs…Mommy."

Jiraiya ripped the remainder of Kushina's top from her upper body, exposing her breasts to the night air while Hiruzen placed Naruto in her arms and helped her bring the babe to a nipple so that he could nurse.

Kushina's smile widened slightly as she felt her mammary being drained by her son, "At least…I got to…feed you…one time…my precious…Naru-chan."

Kushina's selfless devotion to her baby and her giving the remainder of her life energy into this single act of love moved both men to tears. Kushina's eyes rolled back and shut, her head lolling to the side as she finally lost consciousness. Hiruzen continued to hold Naruto to her breast as he was still suckling. Once Naruto was finished, he immediately fell asleep. Hiruzen laid the boy down on a soft patch of earth, protected only by the blanket he was swaddled in, before quickly returning to Jiraiya's side.

"Jiraiya! We have to keep her alive!"

Jiraiya looked at the man as if he was insane. There was no way she would even live through the night – her injuries from having the Nine-Tails ripped out of her and being impaled through her stomach were too grievous. He glanced over to Naruto's sleeping form. The poor boy was burdened to be a jinchuuriki and would be an orphan on top of that.

Jiraiya sadly shook his head, "It's no use, sensei. She won't make it."

"No, we can save her if we use seals to put her in a coma!"

"We don't have enough time, sensei! She'll die before we can complete any kind of sealing array!"

"Listen to me, boy!" Hiruzen fired back using the tone he used to use with his students when he was teaching them as genin, immediately causing Jiraiya to stiffen up and pay attention, "We seal her body in a scroll now so we can transport her to a secret facility that I have set up. We prepare temporary stasis tags that we immediately apply to her body once we unseal her body from the scroll. While the stasis tags do their work, we apply more permanent stasis seals to her body so that when we remove the tags, her remaining chakra will power the seals after we activate them. That will allow us to heal her injuries in safety so nobody can take advantage of her vulnerable state during that time!"

Jiraiya's eyes went wide as Hiruzen explained his plan to him. It was pretty unorthodox – and it was crazy enough that it just might work, especially given that Kushina was a full-blooded Uzumaki! He quickly nodded, pulled out a scroll and quickly painted a large storage seal on it. The moment he was finished, Hiruzen made a hand sign, and Kushina's body disappeared in a large puff of smoke, the seal on the scroll adding a kanji to show that it was filled.

Hiruzen collected Naruto from the ground as Jiraiya put the scroll back into the harness across his back. The two immediately fled the scene, Jiraiya following his old sensei back to his office, where he would learn of one of Konoha's most truly well-kept secrets…

 ************* Line Break *************

Sitting on a swing in one of Konoha's playgrounds was a six-year-old Naruto. He was bored, for he had nobody to play with. Looking around, his eyes fell on a group of boys around his age laughing and playing some kind of game with red rubber balls. They were throwing them at each other and it looked like fun!

 _'Maybe they would like to play with me!'_ he thought with childish eagerness as he got out of the swing and ran towards the children, wanting to join them.

"Hey! What game are you guys playing?" Naruto asked with excitement, catching the attention of the other children…and some of the nearby mothers who were watching their children play.

"Uhh…You don't know? It's called dodgeball," responded one of the boys, surprised that he didn't know what game they were playing – it was a popular game amongst children after all.

Naruto tiled his head and asked, "How does it work?"

"It's really simple," another boy answered and began to explain the rules, "You throw balls at the other team and try to hit them while trying to avoid getting hit yourself! If you hit them, they're out. But, if you throw it at the other team and they catch the ball, then YOU'RE out! Also, if you hit someone and another person on their team catches the ball before it hits the ground, you're still out and the person that got hit is saved. But just because you're out doesn't mean you stop playing. Players who are out go out of bounds on the side of the other team, and they can still throw the balls at the other team to get them out. But the team that gets all the other team's members out is the winner!"

"Sounds fun! Can I play with you guys?" Naruto asked with hope and excitement.

The children looked at each and whispered some things to each other. Naruto couldn't make out what they were saying. He was about to ask what they were saying, but they stopped whispering and turned back towards him.

"Okay, you can join! The more people, the more fun!"

Naruto smiled happily and made a fist pump, "Awesome!"

Just as he was about to join the game, a shadow fell over him. Naruto turned around to see a group of women towering over him.

"What do YOU think you're doing near our children?!" the one of them sneered at Naruto with palpable disgust.

Naruto shrank under the glares that the women – most likely the mothers of these boys – were giving him.

"I-I just asked if I could play with them," Naruto stammered out, becoming nervous from the intimidating figures and glares of the women in front of him.

"Uhh…Mom? He was just going to play dodgeball with us," One of the boys, obviously confused by his mother's behavior, explained to her before she could respond to Naruto. All of the boys shared his confusion as they didn't understand what the problem was.

The boy's mother looked at her son, "Sweetie, you shouldn't play with this…thing," she answered to her son and pointed towards Naruto, "Nothing good comes from being around this scoundrel."

The boy as well as the other children just looked confused, "Why? I don't get it…"

"Just listen to me, Sweetie. Mommy knows best. Just stay away from him, okay?"

"Alright…" the boy conceded, still not really understanding what was so bad about this blonde-haired boy, and not liking what his mother said about him, but he would listen to his mother like any child would.

The other mothers followed the same example, telling their children to stay away from Naruto as well. They too just nodded and ran further into the playground, leaving Naruto behind with their mothers.

Naruto looked crestfallen. It was so unfair! He just wanted to play and make friends, but he never got to play with anybody. He was always alone for as far as he could remember and now some kids wanted to play with and this happens!

'Why? I just wanted to play and make friends," he objected, looking up towards the group of mothers with a hurt look on his face, only to be met with angry shouts as the mother's verbally tore into the poor child.

"Because you are nothing but trouble!"

"Stay away from our children!"

"Nobody wants someone like you around!"

"You don't belong here!"

"Leave our children alone!"

"They shouldn't let filth like you roam around!"

"How dare you try to corrupt our children!"

"We won't let you hurt our children!"

"STOP IT! I'M NOT FILTH AND I'M NOT TROUBLE!" Naruto yelled, hurt by the things the women were shouting at him.

"Yes, you are! You are a good-for-nothing troublemaker who nobody wants around! That's why you were surely abandoned!" one of the women said with a spiteful edge.

"No, that…that can't be true – my parents loved me!" Naruto denied, shaking his head. He closed his eyes as tears threatened to spill out because of all the cruel things these women were saying to him.

"Hah! You hear that? He thinks his parents loved HIM. Now, listen carefully, boy," the woman gleefully said as she saw Naruto being close to tears while spitting the word 'boy' out venomously, "NOBODY in this village wants you, NOBODY even likes you, let alone love you," she continued before finishing with a cruel smile, "Why would your parents be different? The truth is they hated you like everybody else, they probably wished you had never been born at all!"

Naruto couldn't hear any of this any longer. With tears streaming down his face, he turned around and ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him, leaving the group of cruel, short-sighted mothers behind. The mothers all watched as he ran off, smugly satisfied at having put the little wretch in his place.

 ************* Line Break *************

Hiruzen was not having a good day. He could swear that the stack of paperwork in front of him was somehow capable of casting the Shadow Clone Jutsu! There just seemed no end to it at times! How he cursed the fact Minato had died six years ago to stop the Nine-Tails as he was left behind to take up the position of Hokage once more lest his former teammate, Danzo, got his hands on the position. That particular thought made him shudder, considering his old friend's uncompromising militaristic ways.

After what he could only describe as a herculean effort, he finally managed to work his way through all the paperwork. Taking his first break since his workday started, he took out his glass orb to check up on how Naruto was doing. To this day, he had not been able to heal Kushina, and young Naruto had it very rough without a parent. He did all he could for the boy, even going as far as trying to be a grandfather-figure for the boy, but his own efforts were rendered less-effective by the constraints of time and of his work.

Oh, he was well aware of how intolerant the villagers were towards the poor boy. When he revealed Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki six years ago as per Minato's dying wish, the villagers demanded the boy's head. He had passed down a law that forbade anyone to speak of Naruto's burden. He had hoped this would at least keep the younger generation ignorant of Naruto's status as the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki, but it was no use as parents would ensure their children avoided the boy.

He smiled as he saw Naruto approach a group of children to play with through his trusty crystal ball. His smile quickly turned to a frown as the mothers of the children forbade them from playing with Naruto and told them to stay away from him before verbally tearing into the boy in a callous manner that left the boy running away in tears. What angered him the most was that he couldn't do anything about it for they did not break the law and, Hokage or not, he could not force people to change their views.

If Hiruzen thought his day couldn't get worse, then he was sorely mistaken. He kept watching as Naruto ran to the spot he would always go to when he felt sad: the Hokage Monument – on top of the Fourth Hokage's head to be specific.

 _'Moments like these make me wonder if the Will of Fire, the belief that the entire is like a large family unit, died out six years ago,'_ Hiruzen sadly thought as he watched the young youth bawl with heart-wrenching emotional pain. Then it happened; his eyes shot wide with worry and alarm as he noted the ominous red chakra that started bursting forth from Naruto's body.

"Tenzo!" A tiger-masked member of ANBU immediately leapt out of the shadow at the Hokage's command, kneeling before him and awaiting his command.

"Young Naruto has unconsciously tapped into his tenant's chakra! I need you to aid me in suppressing it before any damage is caused!" Hiruzen ordered before he and Tenzo made a tiger hand seal each before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Moments later, both men appeared on top of the Hokage Monument, where Naruto laid on the ground, surrounded in a shroud of the Nine-Tails' red chakra, writhing in pain. Tenzo glanced at Hiruzen, who gave him brief nod. He knew what to do.

Tenzo quickly used the Kakuan Entering Society With Bliss-Bringing Hands Jutsu to produce the kanji for 'sit' on his palm and jumped towards Naruto, touching his chest with that palm before jumping back, a thick strand of chakra connecting him to Naruto. Slamming his other hand to the ground, he made ten wooden pillars spring up around Naruto in a circular formation.

Not wasting any time, Tenzo quickly began using the fabled technique of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra within the outlined area. The malevolent shroud of chakra slowly began to recede until it was completely gone, leaving an unconscious Naruto lying motionless on the ground.

"It is done," Tenzo remarked with notable relief.

"It is fortunate that we got here as quickly as we did. If the fox had managed to gain a hold of the boy through his emotional state…Kami knows what could have happened," Hiruzen solemnly said, drawing a questioning look from Tenzo.

"Lord Hokage, if I may ask, what do you mean by that? Is there a flaw in the seal?"

"No, nothing of the sort. The seal is fine. The problem lies in how the village treats the boy. I had hoped the law I passed with regards to his status as a jinchuuriki would at least ensure he would not be isolated from the younger generation…" Hiruzen began to explain, "…But it made little difference. Naruto tried to play with some children and was cruelly told off by a group of mothers. The things they said hurt the boy emotionally – enough for him to apparently tap into the Nine-Tails' chakra – and the rest is history."

"I see…"

"That said, I will have to schedule several meetings with Ibiki for the people responsible for putting the boy in this state – indirectly endangering the safety of Konoha…" Hiruzen stated with a steel edge to his voice that clearly belied that despite his old age, he was not to be crossed.

Hiruzen picked Naruto up and headed back for his office. Leaving him to rest there, he summoned several more ANBU and led them himself to the mothers who had caused Naruto such pain to place them under arrest…

 ************* Line Break *************

Naruto groggily opened his eyes and noticed that he was in the Hokage's office, with said Hokage sitting next to him.

"Ugh…Grandpa? What happened?" Naruto asked tiredly.

"You passed out, Naruto-kun. I'm glad to see you're alright."

Naruto's expression turned sour – more sour than any child should look, "Grandpa?"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Why does everyone hate me?" Naruto asked, his voice low and trembling.

Hiruzen gave Naruto a pitying look, "Not everyone hates you, Naruto-kun. The villagers…they just refuse to get over their own problems," he said, trying to calm the boy down, but Kami knows when or if the villagers would ever put Nine-Tails' attack on the village behind them.

Naruto began to sob. "But it's not fair! What have I done wrong to them?! I never did anything and everybody hates me – even my parents do! They'll never accept me! It hurts so much! I…I wish I was never born! I hate this stupid village!" he shouted frantically between sobs.

Hiruzen looked alarmed. He knew Naruto was obviously feeling hurt, but this course of thought…this was worse than he anticipated. If he would not step in now, then things were bound to end in tragedy. At 'best', the boy would go insane like the Kazekage's youngest son had gone recently, or he would end up committing suicide, which would also mean the Nine-Tails would be back to finish what it had started years ago.

He could not allow either of these things to happen. He owed Minato and Kushina that much, and he owed Naruto far more than that. He had wanted to wait with what he had in mind until Naruto was older, but given the circumstances, he would have to take a risk and hope the boy would understand what he was about to tell him.

Hiruzen took a deep breath, before sternly addressing Naruto, "Naruto-kun? I wanted to wait until you were old enough to understand what I'm about to tell you before I explain more about the reason behind the villager's treatment of you and about your parents, but I need you to listen carefully to me. You have to promise me that you will NOT speak a word of ANYTHING I am going to tell you right now, at any time or for any reason. Can you promise me that?"

Naruto's head snapped up towards Hiruzen and he answered quickly, "Y-Yes, I promise! I won't tell a soul…" he was nodding his head all the while before he added, "…although I don't understand why."

"It's for your safety, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen explained in his 'professor' tone, "As you know, six years ago, the Nine-Tails attacked our village and was killed by the Fourth Hokage. That story is not entirely true though."

Naruto looked confused with his head tilted slightly, "Huh? What happened then and what does that have to do with me?"

"The Nine-Tails cannot be killed. Indeed, it was defeated. The Fourth Hokage defeated it by sealing it away…into a newborn baby. That baby was you."

Horror was written over Naruto's face as Hiruzen dropped the bomb on him. "Y-You mean everybody hates me because I'm a…monster?" Naruto asked with a quivering voice.

"No! You're not a monster, my boy!" Hiruzen exclaimed. He reached into his robes and took out a scroll and a kunai. "Tell me, what do you see here?" he asked.

"That's a kunai and a scroll…"

"Indeed. Now I'm going to seal the kunai into the scroll," Hiruzen said before following suit with action, making the kunai disappear in a puff of smoke, "What do I have here now?"

"A scroll?" Naruto confusedly answers.

Hiruzen nodded knowingly, "Yes, Naruto-kun. It's still a scroll – a scroll with a kunai inside of it, but still nothing more than a simple scroll."

Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face, Hiruzen smiled and explained the analogy, "It's the same with you, my boy. When you were born, you were a boy, plain and simple. Just like this is a scroll, plain and simple. And just like the kunai was sealed in this scroll, the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed in you. And just like this scroll with the kunai in it is still nothing more than a scroll, you, even with the Nine-Tails sealed inside you, are still nothing more than a young boy, plain and simple. You are not the Nine-Tails, just like this scroll is not the kunai sealed inside of it."

Seeing Naruto's eyes widen in understanding and enlightenment, Hiruzen pressed on, "The sealing of the Nine-Tails into you makes you not the demon, but its prison, and because of you, this village is still standing. When the Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-Tails into you, he wished for you to be seen as a hero, but the villagers haven't been able to move past the hurt over all the loss caused in the Nine-Tails' rampage. I wish it were different, but even as Hokage, I can't force people to change their minds."

"I see…" Naruto responded sadly. He now understood why people treated him so coldly, but it didn't make him feel any better though – if anything, it made him feel worse.

Hiruzen noted this, he hoped that what he was about to tell would give the boy a reason to keep going, "Naruto, I want you to know that despite their feelings, they have no excuse to treat you the way those mothers did, earlier – yes, I was watching from my crystal ball over there. And about what those monsters said, about your parents hating you? That's not true, Naruto-kun," he said, snapping Naruto out of his sad mood.

"But then why aren't they here?! Did you know them?!" Naruto demanded.

"First off, you have to understand that I didn't tell you about your parents because they made many enemies during their lives. I was going to tell you once you were strong enough to defend yourself from people who would want to hurt you just for who your parents are," Hiruzen answered, "For that same reason, I still can't tell you who your father is yet, besides that he died during the Nine-Tails' rampage, but I can tell you about your mother. Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki, and she is still alive. She is in a coma right now – a deep sleep if you will."

"But why is she sleeping instead of being here? Did she not want me?" Naruto asked with obvious worry.

"Your mother loved you very much and she was prepared to sacrifice herself that night to save your life. She was still alive after the Nine-Tails' attack, barely, but alive nonetheless. I placed her in a secret facility so that her wounds can heal as she sleeps. I'm still doing everything I can to make sure she will recover," Hiruzen explained before asking, "How about I take you there so you can see her?"

Naruto latched on to Hiruzen and cried, "Thank you Grandpa…I'd love that!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come with me," Hiruzen said with a warm smile as he took Naruto's hand, leading him to the facility where Kushina was slumbering.

 ************* Line Break *************

Naruto was silent the entire time as he listened to Hiruzen's stories about what kind of person his mother was as the Hokage led him through the hidden underground tunnels leading from the Hokage Residence to the secret facility underneath the Hokage Monument, where his mother was kept. He couldn't believe it! He was actually going to see his mother – it was like a dream about to come true! Eventually they reached the room where Kushina was laying.

With a grandfatherly smile, Hiruzen motioned Naruto to go inside, "Go on, meet her. Even though she won't talk back right now, I'm sure she will listen to you."

Nodding his head up and down a few times, Naruto entered the room with nervousness – the kind of nervousness you felt when something you always desired very, very much was within arm's reach, but you were afraid that it was too good to be true, that it would disappear right in front of your eyes when you try to grab it.

There she was, lying on a hospital bed with wires and tubes attached to her body in various places and an oxygen mask placed over her mouth.

Taking a few seconds to collect himself, he slowly walked up next the bed and took a moment to take in his mother's sleeping form, noting that she looked like an angel. With both hands, he clutched his mother's left hand.

"Mom? Can you hear me? It's me, Naruto," he began to say to her before he choked up, "I wanted…I wanted to meet you for so long…Mom."

"Grandpa told me you're a really cool and strong ninja. But he never told me you were so pretty, too," Naruto told her with a smile on his face as he was just saying whatever came to mind, "I'm six already and I'm going to the Ninja Academy soon! I'll learn cool jutsus and moves, so I can be awesome like you too, and make you proud! And I'll make friends! Oh, and I love ramen too, just like Grandpa said you do! And one day, I'll be Hokage – the Orange Hokage, just you wait!"

Despite knowing she couldn't respond to him, it still hurt seeing his mother like this, unable to speak to him, and tears began to trickle from his eyes, "Please wake up soon, I…I…I wanna talk to you for real, Mom. I don't wanna be alone anymore, ya know!"

Hiruzen watched with sadness from the sides as Naruto continued to pour his heart out to his comatose mother, torn between being happy at finally meeting her, and hurt because even though she was there, she couldn't be there for him. It tugged on his heartstrings to give the boy what may very well be false hope, but at least that hope would give the boy a reason to carry on and drive himself forward…for now at least.

Soon enough, Naruto stopped talking to his mother, not knowing what to say anymore. He just kept hold of her hand like a lifeline, trying to comfort himself with her presence in silence. The fatigue from his emotionally and physically taxing day finally caught up with him as he started to doze off. Seeing this, Hiruzen picked him up before he could drop to the ground.

Looking to Kushina for a moment, he sighed, "He really takes after you, Kushina. I'm doing my best to look after him while you and Jiraiya can't, but I'm afraid these old bones' best just isn't good enough. Jiraiya can't get here right now because of the ridiculous amount of missions we've needed done that seem to need his personal attention. He needs you…"

Turning around, Hiruzen exited the facility as he headed for Naruto's apartment to bring the sleeping boy to his bed. Once he arrived there, he quickly and quietly put the boy down to bed, and left as quietly as he came. His thoughts turned to a certain Toad Sage as he walked back to his office to finish some last-minute tasks before he would head home to bed.

"Jiraiya, my boy…" he whispered aloud to himself, "…I need to find a way to better distribute your mission load so that I can bring you back here. Naruto would fare much better if he had his godfather in his life."

 ************* Line Break *************

 _ **Two months later…**_

Two months later, Naruto stood in front of the class he was going to join. Grandpa had enrolled him so he could become a ninja. Next to him stood one of the class instructors, Iruka Umino.

"Alright class, we have a new student joining our academy today," Iruka announced to the class.

Being stared at by so many people at once made Naruto somewhat nervous, but he was excited as well! "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to become Hokage, ya know!" he blurted out.

After a brief silence, the entire class burst out laughing.

"Hey, look at those weird whiskers!"

"Ya know?! Hahaha! That sounds so stupid!"

"You? Hokage? Yeah right!"

Naruto's head dropped down with his hair shadowing his eyes. _'Great, my first day just started and I'm already screwing up...'_ he inwardly sulked as everyone kept laughing at his introduction.

"That's enough, be quiet everyone, settle down now!" Iruka said, trying to get everyone to stop laughing so that he could start class. A tick mark formed on his head as he was ignored.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

That did the trick. Satisfied, Iruka motioned for Naruto to take his seat, "Take your seat over there, Naruto."

Naruto obliged and quickly scurried over to his appointed seat.

"Alright, we will begin with history and the founding of Konoha…" Iruka droned, to everyone's chagrin as the theory lessons were so boring that it could put a Tailed Beast to sleep!

 _'_ _I hope the next five years won't be like this or I'll die from boredom_ _…_ _!'_ Naruto lamented as he unsuccessfully tried to keep his attention to Iruka's lecture.

 **End of Chapter**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Like I've mentioned before, this isn't the most exciting of chapters. There will be two more prologue chapters before things start picking up for real: c**_ _ **hapter one shows everything that happens pre-graduation, c**_ _ **hapter two covers the events from post-graduation up and until the timeskip and c**_ _ **hapter three is where the main story will finally begin as we will see Kushina don The Mask for the first time.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _ **Summary:**_ _ **Kushina Uzumaki survived the fateful night of the Nine-Tails' attack, albeit barely. Fifteen years later she wakes up, is reunited with her now teenaged son, and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero accidentally gets her hands on The Mask and what will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but whatever it is, one thing is for certain: she'll look damn good doing whatever it is!**_

 _ **As usual, credit to my helper/co-author, ncpfan, for helping me out with this story.**_

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 **Start of Chapter**

It had been a long seven years since Naruto had started attending the Shinobi Academy. His relationship with Iruka-sensei had dramatically improved during that time, to the point where the chunin teacher would even take his favorite student and treat him to Ichiraku ramen. The man was thankful that Naruto was their favorite customer, and his treating Naruto on such a regular basis scored him a permanent discount at the stand.

He had been hoping to be able to treat Naruto to ramen after he had passed the graduation exam today, but sadly the boy had failed again. Iruka addressed the issue with the Hokage, telling him what the problem was: Naruto's inability to perform the Clone Jutsu.

This was the third time Naruto had failed the exam, and this was the first time a teacher had told him why. Iruka was stunned to find out that Naruto would never be able to perform the Clone jutsu, not because of a lack of skill or proficient, but because he just had way too much damn chakra! Needless to say, Iruka was even angrier than the old man at his colleagues, who should have brought this before the Hokage immediately!

Hiruzen had spoken with Iruka and they were going to schedule a make-up exam for Naruto by teaching him the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a jutsu that, while dangerous for any other child Naruto's age, would be perfect for Naruto, as his chakra currently dwarfed that of anyone in Konoha…including the Hokage himself. The old man also made a mental note to himself to investigate his teaching staff and possibly send a few of those teachers Ibiki's way. It was so frustrating! When would the stupid idiots in his village ever learn?! Besides, his ninja needed to be professional enough to perform their duties regardless of their feelings about the Nine-Tails and Naruto. How was the village supposed to be able to rely on its ninja if they couldn't even do that?!

Iruka, on the other hand, had been on his way to tell Naruto the good news, only to be unable to find him, and then to learn later on that he had stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing! He immediately knew that something was very wrong, and he had to find Naruto before anyone else so that he could find out exactly what had happened. Naruto was a good kid, and he certainly wouldn't do something like stealing a classified village document. He wouldn't even have known about its existence unless someone of chunin rank or higher had told him! No, it was obvious what had happened, here: his student had been set up!

After finding Naruto, and learning what Mizuki had told him about the 'make-up exam'…Iruka couldn't help but grimace at the irony…Mizuki had attacked them both, and had tried to rattle Naruto by revealing the truth about the Nine-Tails being sealed inside him. Iruka immediately stood up for Naruto against Mizuki, only for both of them to become confused by mirthless laughter from Naruto. To both instructors' surprise, this was very old news to Naruto, who simply berated Mizuki for his idiocy in ignoring the most basic tenet of sealing, which is that no object used as a contained ever takes on any of the properties of the object that is sealed within it.

After a furious battle, which ended up with, Iruka injured, Naruto having demonstrated exceptional mastery of, ironically enough, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and Mizuki unconscious, beaten to a bloody pulp, Naruto and Iruka found themselves in their current situation.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Iruka encouraged him.

Doing as he was told, Naruto opened his eyes. Before him lay Iruka against a tree, sporting injuries from defending him against Mizuki. Besides his injuries and the glaring sunlight, Naruto saw Iruka wasn't wearing his forehead protector. In fact, he was wearing his teacher's forehead protector right now!

"Congratulations, you graduate!" a smiling Iruka said, having seen the jutsu that he and the Third Hokage were going to test him on anyway, "And to celebrate, I have a surprise. We're going out for ramen tonight!"

Naruto was at loss for words. After three failed attempts and being set up for stealing the Scroll of Seals, he had finally graduated and become a genin! A megawatt smile broke out on his face as his mind finally caught up with reality.

The moment was ruined as three members of the Hyuuga Police Force appeared on the scene. Two of them immediately grabbed Naruto, used their Gentle Fist taijutsu to incapacitate him, and pinned him down to the ground. The third one picked up the Scroll of Sealing.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are under arrest for the theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing!" one of the officers announced firmly and stoically, as one would expect from a Hyuuga.

"Hey! Let go of me, I did nothing wrong!" Naruto protested. Oh, how he hated these guys! After the Uchiha clan was massacred by Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, the Hyuuga clan took over as the Police Force. Unlike the Uchiha Police Force, they seemed to have it out for him and they were much rougher and colder in their treatment of him. He couldn't even get away with so much as a harmless prank or they would crack down on him – and not lightly either! And they nearly always managed to find him when he tried to hide!

"Hyuuga-san! Naruto was tricked by chunin Mizuki into stealing the Scroll of Seals under the pretense of the theft being a secret graduation exam, there's no need to arrest him like this!" Iruka objected to the rough treatment Naruto was subjected to.

"That's irrelevant Umino-san. Uzumaki's role in this ordeal still stands and he will be brought to Police HQ for interrogation," the officer who was carrying the scroll coldly rebuked. He motioned to the other two to follow him as they roughly pulled Naruto to his feet.

Before they could leave, however, three ANBU appeared on the scene, one of them of Captain rank.

"Unhand Naruto Uzumaki at once!" the ANBU Captain ordered the Hyuuga officers.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the Hyuuga who had declared Naruto's arrest demanded, "We are apprehending a criminal, here! Do not interfere with our duties!"

"Uzumaki-san is not a criminal, he's a SUSPECTED criminal. Aside from that, given that his alleged crime is not of a civilian nature, but a military matter, you are acting outside of your jurisdiction! Unhand him immediately!"

Bristling with anger and humiliation, the lead Hyuuga officer turned to the two holding Naruto and nodded, prompting them to comply with the ANBU Captain's order.

"Very well, ANBU. We've released him into your custody. We will now be on our way."

"I don't think so," the ANBU Captain retorted, "You see, not only were we ordered to relieve you of Uzumaki's person, we've also been ordered to bring Uzumaki-san, Umino-san and the three of you before the Hokage."

"Excuse me?!"

"Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be, Hyuuga-san. If you resist OUR arrest, we have been ordered to use force to bring you to compliance with the Hokage's summons."

Once more bristling with anger and humiliation, and also with some fear, the three Hyuuga agreed to follow the ANBU to the Hokage Building along with Iruka and Naruto.

They knew what this meant – the Hokage knew what took place here, and he likely wasn't too happy about it.

 ************* Line Break *************

The fears of the Hyuuga police officers had been confirmed: Hiruzen Sarutobi was not happy at all with the way they had handled Naruto, and after getting the full story from Naruto and Iruka, he was even less happy with the Hyuuga. He ordered them to be taken to Ibiki, and told that they were there for 'mistreatment of Naruto'. The ANBU, who had just offered condolences to the three Hyuuga in the form of, "You poor, poor unlucky bastards," immediately used Shunshin to remove them from his office.

Hiruzen apologized to Naruto for the way the police force handled him, and aside from giving him a field promotion to genin, had also given him pay equivalent to an A-Rank mission for subduing and apprehending a traitor and for keeping village secrets from being given to an enemy. It was just before two o'clock in the morning when he had dismissed the pair of them, allowing them to return to their homes and rest, and informing them of his plans to enjoy ramen with the two of them that night, and that he would pick up the tab.

His work, however, was not done. An ANBU he had sent out with a summons reappeared in his office with a rather surprised and frazzled-looking Hiashi Hyuuga.

"As ordered, sir, Hiashi Hyuuga," the ANBU saluted the Hokage.

"Excellent. Dismissed," Hiruzen responded, the ANBU vanishing at his dismissal.

"Lord Hokage, what is the meaning of summoning me at such an hour?" Hiashi asked with respectful annoyance.

"Hiashi, I have had enough of the way the Hyuuga Police Force manhandles and mistreats Naruto Uzumaki every single time they invent a reason to apprehend him, and you are here to discuss this with me. The inconvenience of the hour is of no consequence to me at all."

"Well, maybe if that little miscreant didn't cause so much trouble all the time, he wouldn't get manhandled!"

Hiashi's eyes went wide at the monstrous Killing Intent that was suddenly crashing down upon him. Hiruzen rose to his feet, looking quite imposing, despite being several inches shorter than the Hyuuga Clan head.

"I do not take kindly to police brutality and excessive force when making arrests, Hiashi. Your clansmen have a nasty habit of using both when dealing with Naruto in particular, and have for years, which means that either you are too incompetent to ensure your clansmen don't step out of line, or you've been turning a blind eye to their behavior. Or perhaps you've actually even permitted or encouraged them to act in such a manner. Given your clan's distaste of the boy, I'm inclined to believe the latter."

Hiashi's eyes went even wider at this! He was being accused of conspiracy to harm an important village citizen?! He had to clear the air and lay everything out on the table.

"No sir," Hiashi answered with his shoulders slightly slumped in a show of dignified submission, "I do not encourage my clansmen to use excessive force with any Konoha citizen. I will admit to not having bothered to call the conduct of my clansmen into question where the Uzumaki boy is concerned. I've operated with faith in my clan's professionalism and therefore did not see reason to doubt their conduct besides the fact that Uzumaki-san has a reputation as a trouble maker and that there seemed to be no real harm done to him."

"Well, because of your 'faith', as you put it, three of your officers are currently in Ibiki Morino's care."

"WHAT?! You arrested my clansmen while they were on duty?!"

"They stepped out of line on this one, Hiashi. They took it upon themselves to arrest Naruto over a matter that was outside of Police jurisdiction, once again using excessive force and brutality as their first course of action rather than the last resort. It would seem that the Hyuuga Police Force is getting a little too big for its britches, and an example must therefore be made to remind them that as Konoha's law enforcement personnel, they themselves are not above the law. They also need to be reminded that while they enforce the law…" Hiruzen leaned forward and proclaimed forcefully, "…as Hokage, I AM THE LAW! I will tell you this once, and once only: Rein your clansmen in, or it is they who will be charged and paraded around as criminals. And I assure you that I will prosecute them – AND YOU – to the fullest extent of the law if something like this happens again."

Hiashi tightened his lips together in a thin line before bowing and respectfully answering, "I understand, Lord Hokage. I will ensure that my clansmen will not overstep their boundaries and behave in a more professional manner with the boy from now on."

"See that they do," Hiruzen retorted before returning to his chair to finish further paperwork. Hiashi left his office with his usual dignified gait despite feeling quite miffed at being dismissed in such a condescending manner.

 ************* Line Break *************

 _ **Six months later…**_

With a sneak attack from below, he had taken his opponent by surprise, knocking her down to the ground, unable to continue fighting.

"Proctor…I can't move…" a grimacing Hinata Hyuuga conceded, pain coursing through her body at the slightest movement.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!" Genma Shiranui announced.

He did it! He had won his match and moved on to the next round, but even more so, he had kept his promise to win this fight!

Back during the preliminaries, Hinata was pitted against her cousin, Neji. They were quite evenly matched until Hinata finally began to gain ground. She showed no mercy and left Neji very injured and used the curse seal all Hyuuga branch house members were branded with after a brief exchange of arguments.

It disgusted him to no end. That wasn't what the Will of Fire was about and that was definitely not how you treated family! It angered him so much. He had no family, yet Hinata just took her family for granted and treated them like garbage. The fact the Hyuuga use a curse seal was icing on the cake for him, whose life was defined by the burden that his own seal, his own curse, brought upon him.

During the month between the preliminaries and the finals, he had spoken to Neji, who bitterly kept going on about fate, about how people couldn't change their lot in life and how he was fated to lose against Hinata in the finals. He blew up right there and there and swore he would win, that he would not lose against someone like Hinata and that he was in charge of his own fate.

Neji for his turn looked stunned. He had heard some things about Naruto like how he graduated despite failing, but he figured it was nothing but luck. After all, once the deadlast, always the deadlast, you can't change your lot in life. He had dismissed his promise to beat his cousin as foolish bravado, but the knucklehead actually did it! Maybe fate wasn't so absolute after all…

"How? How could you win? You're the deadlast…" Hinata asked with pure disbelief. She couldn't believe that she – the Hyuuga prodigy – had lost to the deadlast of all people!

Naruto was about to exit the arena, but stopped when he heard her question and frowned.

"Because I refuse to lose to someone like you."

"Huh? What do you mean by that…?" Hinata asked, confused by his answer.

"I mean that I refuse to lose to someone who is lower than trash," he harshly shot back, "You treat your family like dirt, no…lower than dirt, just like the rest of your clan's main house. It's barbaric and disgusting how you Main House Hyuuga use a curse seal to burden and enslave your branch house members."

"Why would you even care?"

"Because I've never had any family…and because I know what it's like to be burdened with a curse – something you with your spoiled, charmed little life will never understand," Naruto explained with cold anger before making his way out of the arena and leaving Hinata to her own thoughts.

Meanwhile, Hiashi Hyuuga frowned as he looked down at the entire spectacle. The outcome of the match was completely unexpected; if anything, it was preposterous. Nonetheless, it had happened, and it was plainly visible in front of them for all to see. And to top it off, he was barely even winded in terms of chakra reserves! Hinata was out of chakra, but Naruto, having used far more, still had most of his to spare!

Plans on how to deal with this situation already formed in his head as the Hyuuga Clan's renown aptitude for politics did its work. He had to speak with Hinata as soon as possible – a potential powerhouse like the Uzumaki boy could prove most beneficial to his clan…much more so than turning him against them.

 ************* Line Break *************

Naruto was dragging the newly-christened Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju with him through the underground tunnels to the room in the facility where his mother was. Despite Grandpa Hiruzen's best efforts before he died by Orochimaru's hands in the invasion during the Chunin Exams, his mother was still comatose and hadn't shown much improvement. But now that he had the world's best medic with him, who he and Jiraiya had just recently brought back to the village, things were finally starting to look up in a way they never have before! If anyone could make his mother better, it would be Tsunade and it renewed his hopes of finally getting his mother back in his life.

"Here it is! This is where Mom is!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Tsunade walked into the room where his mother was lying and she released a loud gasp when she saw it who Naruto's mother was.

"K-Kushina?! Kushina's your mother?" Tsunade stammered out, looking at Naruto with shock – shock at finding out that Kushina was still alive and that Naruto was her child.

Naruto happily nodded his head several times, "Yup!"

"But how? I thought she died thirteen years ago?"

"Grandpa placed her here to prevent her from dying from her injuries," Naruto explained before his expression turned into one of sadness, "Mom's injuries were…really bad. Grandpa was able to keep her alive and did all he could, but she's still…like this."

Tsunade, who glanced over to Kushina's still form. Understanding dawned upon her: Naruto didn't bring her here just to show her his mother, he brought her here because he wanted her help.

"You brought me here because you want me to heal her, didn't you?"

When she looked back at Naruto, she saw a desperate child who wanted nothing more than to have his mother back.

"Yeah. It's just…and they say you're the best medic there is and Grandpa tried for so long without getting anywhere," Naruto sadly spoke as he wistfully looked at his mother.

"Please…please help her! I don't know who else can! I just want my mother…" he desperately begged until Tsunade shushed him by putting her finger against his lip before bringing a gentle hand to his face and kissing him on his forehead just like she used to with her late little brother, Nawaki. When she pulled away, she was smiling warmly at Naruto, who was now noticeably calmer.

She couldn't say no to the love-starved soul before her in good conscience. Besides, it would go against her principles as a medic to not help and she would be damned if she ran away when she had the chance to save someone important to her.

"Don't you worry, kiddo. I won't stop until she is awake and healthy again," she gently said, which prompted Naruto to latch on her. She let a soft smile come over her face and put her arms around Naruto's frame as he kept repeating words of thanks and for a minute, they stayed like that before letting go.

"Now, let me take a look at her," Tsunade said as she went over to Kushina to diagnose her condition.

 ************* Line Break *************

"Naruto Uzumaki, do you know why you are here?"

Naruto looked confused at the councilman who asked the question – an old man with a bandaged eye – and answered, "Uh, not really…"

"You are summoned here because of your…performance during the chunin exams, the subsequent invasion and-" the councilman stoically began to explain before he was interrupted by Naruto.

"Hah, you're going to promote me to chunin, right?!" Naruto excitedly exclaimed with his fox-like trademark grin. He, the dead last, had won his matches during the final stage – heck, he had even beaten Hinata, something nobody had expected as she was considered the Hyuuga prodigy. On top of that, he had stopped Gaara after he let the One-Tail loose on the village. He would finally be acknowledged as something more than just being the dead last of his generation!

He happy bubble was quickly burst as another councilman, this time from the civilian side of the council, almost shouted with indignation in response to his joyful outburst, "The impudence! You are not here for a promotion and do not interrupt the council when we are speaking to you, genin! Shimura-san, if you would continue…"

The old man he had interrupted continued in the same stoic tone of voice, "Yes, thank you. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…you have been summoned here in light of your performance during the chunin exams, the invasion that followed and the failed retrieval of Sasuke Uchiha."

A sense of dread began to fill Naruto; this was starting to look bad and the next words from another councilman from the civilian side confirmed what his gut was telling him.

"During each of these events you have been reported to have drawn upon the power of your…tenant."

"But-" Naruto tried to defend himself by asking what was wrong about using the Nine-Tails' chakra as it was just like any other ninja tool, but he was quickly cut off by another woman on the civilian side of the council who slammed her fist on the desk she was sitting at.

"No buts! Your reckless use of the monster fox's power risked setting that thing loose on our village and you even have the nerve to think you are entitled to a promotion for that?!" The councilwoman shrieked.

Another civilian council member quickly put his own two cents in, "Do you even realize what you have done, boy? Because of your careless and over-dependent use of the Nine-Tails' power, the mission failed!"

"But that is not fair! Sasuke would not come back without a fight!" Naruto shouted in protest.

"That does not excuse your excessive use of force!"

"Were you trying to kill him?! It certainly was the perfect excuse to do so!"

"Because of you our village lost its last Uchiha along with its Sharingan bloodline limit!"

"I had no choice! He tried to kill me and he would have if I hadn't used the fox' chakra! He was using that curse seal hickey Orochimaru gave him! Dammit! He impaled me through the chest, twice!" Naruto yelled. He was used to being treated unfairly, but he still never could wrap his head around the unfairness of it all. It didn't take long before his reasoning was met with another verbal lashing from the civilian side of the council.

"Enough of these excuses! You don't look like someone who has been impaled once, let alone twice!"

"Councilman," Tsunade interjected with an edge to her voice, "I treated Naruto Uzumaki's injuries myself, and what he claims is in fact the truth. Are you calling ME a liar?"

The civilian councilman, realizing that he had overstepped himself, apologized quietly and shrank back into his seat.

"And you also claim that he used Orochimaru's curse seal?" yet another civilian councilman barked, "It was sealed away by one of our top shinobi! You have a lot of nerve to try and cover up your own misconduct with false accusations!"

"You most likely goaded Uchiha-san into fighting. As a matter of fact, it is my understanding that you goaded him into a fight on top of the hospital roof shortly after the invasion with your insensitivity to his trauma with regard to the Uchiha Massacre and apparent need to one-up the poor boy!"

"He should be punished for endangering all of us by using that thing's power!"

Many council members on the civilian side were quick to join in as they too demanded punishment for Naruto's use of the Kyuubi's chakra under the pretense of endangering the village, intentionally attacking a fellow Konoha shinobi and being responsible for the loss of the Sharingan and its military potential. Tsunade's ire towards these corrupt ingrates was steadily rising with each passing moment.

The shouts, the demands for 'justice' slammed at Naruto's heart and mind like battering rams. He knew the villagers had never been fair to him, but he couldn't believe they would go this far! The bastard abandons the village, almost kills him and they want to punish him for it! It was emotionally too much for him and he looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.

Tsunade saw Naruto's state and decided that enough was enough. Her temper and Killing Intent flared, making the civilian side of the council sweat as she cracked down on them, "IDIOTS! He's the Nine-Tails' jinchuuriki! He's SUPPOSED to use its chakra! That's why he's GOT IT! Should I arrest all of you just because I think you're all idiots to the point where it's a crime?!"

Seeing her outburst achieved the desired effect of shutting the council up, she added in a threat with a dangerous edge to her voice that warned everyone not to cross her, "And I will in turn charge all of you with fraudulent indictment if you so much as attempt to pin these charges on Naruto Uzumaki."

"Lady Hokage, all reports thus far have stated that Uzumaki-san has always been in a state of anger when drawing upon the Nine-Tails' chakra, which magnifies that anger and makes him act like what can only be described as a loose cannon," the one-eyed old man who had addressed Naruto earlier spoke, causing the civilian side of the council to look smug while the ninja side of the council murmured amongst themselves as they took in this information.

"What are you implying, Danzo?" Tsunade growled out. Danzo was up to something and she didn't like it one bit.

The old man, now identified as Danzo Shimura, evenly responded, "I am merely pointing out the facts, Lady Hokage."

"Danzo, you're on very thin ice with me as it is," Tsunade warned him dangerously, "If I were you, I would be very, very careful about 'pointing out facts' as you put it, so carelessly. One might believe you were attempting to plant seeds of dissent and sedition against the legitimate ruling government of this village…"

Danzo gritted his teeth in rage, though he kept his lips pressed. He would have to watch himself very closely from now on, as he was beginning to realize that Tsunade Senju was not the woman of weak will and weak character that he had known her to be in her youth or expected her to be ever since she left Konoha. She would not play the games that he and Hiruzen used to play in these meetings, and she had no real reason to want him around. Yes, he would have to be very careful from now on.

"Shimura-san has a point. We cannot just turn a blind eye to this…delicate issue. Something has to be done," Hiashi Hyuuga added, thinking he could use this situation to steer the boy into his clan's reach.

Danzo shot a glance at Hiashi, slightly narrowing his sole visible eye as he did so. While it didn't hurt to have someone vocally agree with him, it would not do to have the jinchuuriki fall in the hands of the Hyuuga.

He was well aware through his ROOT spies that the Hyuuga clan intended to sink their claws into the jinchuuriki by having their clan heiress marry him since the jinchuuriki defeated the Hyuuga heiress in the Chunin Exams. Besides exercising control over the village's greatest weapon and if properly harnessed, they believed the 'union' would boost the Hyuuga clan's bloodline by combining the boy's potent and great amount of chakra and that of his tenant with the Byakugan. Of course, it was extremely unlikely that such a union would take place at this point. The jinchuuriki had made it no secret that he found the Hyuuga heir to be repulsive and disgusting as a person and therefore did not want anything to do with her and as far as he was concerned, it should stay that way. If such a union were to be successfully arranged, the Hyuuga clan would gain too much power and become a threat to the village, maybe even worse than the late Uchiha Clan, and that was something he could not allow to happen.

"Indeed Hyuuga-san. However, Lady Hokage is also right that the Kyuubi's power is meant to be harnessed," Danzo continued, making Tsunade narrow her eyes in suspicion, "I suggest we see to it that he will be taught how to use its power properly to prevent situations like this…or worse. To this end, I propose Uzumaki-san will be put under my tutelage."

 _'So that's how it is…'_ Tsunade thought. She knew better than to trust Danzo after having read everything Sarutobi-sensei had left behind for his successor. Her teacher had written down about his suspicions of Danzo never truly having disbanded ROOT after he had been ordered to do so after the Uchiha Massacre. She wouldn't let Danzo turn Naruto into another one of his emotionless drones, let alone his personal weapon. Fortunately, she could easily throw a monkey wrench into Danzo's plan and turned the attention back to her by clapping her hands together.

"I'm glad you mentioned this, Danzo. As a matter of fact, I have already arranged for this," Tsunade announced with a smug look on her face, much to the council's confusion, "You see, Naruto's training for the next two years will be overseen by none other than Jiraiya himself."

"Lady Hokage, you must reconsider! That would interfere with Jiraiya's information gathering duties. My duties on the other hand, would not conflict with Uzumaki-san's training and with my extensive experience I am more than qualified for the task," Danzo objected.

Once again, the council murmured again. If one listened well enough, one could hear one of the civilian council members say that "It would also interfere with Lord Jiraiya's upcoming book."

Tsunade dismissively shrugged Danzo's objections off, "First off, I'm Hokage, so I don't have to reconsider my decision at all and secondly, it won't interfere with Jiraiya's duties at all as Naruto will be traveling with Jiraiya during his training. Besides, I don't see anyone better equipped to oversee Naruto's training considering his expertise with seals. My decision is final."

Danzo was seething, that fool of a woman had ruined his opportunity to get his hands on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. He was no fool and he knew he couldn't do anything but concede…for now.

"Of course, Lady Hokage…" Danzo said between clenched teeth.

"Now, this goes for all of you," Tsunade warned, "Since I've been back, I have been less vocal than I have wanted to be in these meetings up to now because I wanted to observe how this body operates, particularly with regards to Naruto, here. Well, I've observed enough, and this crap stops now! You are all way out of line in the way you've spoken to Naruto about anything related to his ninja career or his duties as a ninja. You are not ninja, nor have you ever been ninja, and therefore you have no right to criticize or make conjectures about what MY ninja did or did not do."

The room was quiet. The civilians were all stunned at Tsunade's rebuke, while the ninja clan heads were all patiently waiting, guessing that Tsunade had a few things to say to them as well.

Tsunade continued, "For your information, my orders to Naruto AND HIS ENTIRE SQUAD were that if they were unable to subdue Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to Konoha, then they were to ELIMINATE HIM!"

This caused a wide array of gasps and loud vocal objections by the civilians, stating that she couldn't do that, or that it was wrong to place the demon brat's welfare over that of the last Uchiha. It was this last one that Tsunade thought was the last straw.

"ANBU!" she called.

Immediately, several ANBU in the room appeared behind all of the objecting civilians, and Danzo as well, and put blades to their necks, exuding their Killing Intent upon them to keep them silent and cowed. Danzo simply sat there with an unreadable expression, seemingly cool as ice.

"You may have rescinded the Third's Law before I was inaugurated, and obviously since his status is no longer an S-ranked secret, I can't make it illegal to talk about it, but there is something I can and will DO about it! I am now instituting the Fifth Hokage's Law: Any illegal, negative or malicious behavior towards Naruto that is even SUSPECTED to be driven by his connection to the Nine-Tails, will be met with swift and immediate execution WITHOUT EXCEPTION! This includes any and all of you! Are there any doubts in any of your minds now that I mean business?!"

Fearful shakes of their heads were the civilians' response, while everyone else simply acknowledged their understanding of the new law calmly.

"ANBU, you are hereby authorized to enforce this new law immediately. So council members, civilian and ninja alike – I suggest you start spreading the word, because my declaration of this law is the only warning this village is going to get."

"Now," Tsunade continued, "To clarify the matter of Sasuke's curse mark being sealed away: the seal used to restrain it is tied to the will and desire of the person on whom the seal is placed. Meaning that the only way the seal would have been able to be used is if Uchiha-san WANTED to use it of his own free will! Any more talk of this, and I will declare Sasuke Uchiha a traitor and have him entered into the bingo books as an A-rank rogue ninja with a kill on sight order! Do not test me!"

Once more, she was met with a quiet chamber.

"Good. I will take your silence as acknowledgment that you understand all I have told you. This council is hereby adjourned!"

Once everybody left, Tsunade went over to Naruto, who was sprawled in his chair with resigned and frustrated exhaustion. She took his hand with her own, causing him to look up at her.

"Come with me, Naruto," she invited with a look of sympathy.

Naruto simply followed her lead, rising from his chair and letting her lead him by the hand back to her office. Once they were inside, she let go of his hand and closed the door.

She walked back over to him and placed her hand on his arm, "Are you alright?"

"I-I think so…I just can't believe they would do something like this," Naruto responded under his breath, looking downcast, "When will I leave with Pervy Sage? I really need to be away from the village for a while."

"You and Mr. Super Pervert will be leaving tomorrow," she informed him in an encouraging tone, before pulling him into a gentle and warm hug. He didn't hesitate to return it, closing his eyes and allowing himself a smile as he took in the warmth that he and she both shared for each other.

"You know, Naruto," Tsunade began after pulling back, placing a gentle hand on his face as had become her usual behavior towards him, "I sometimes can't help but think of you as my little brother, maybe even a bit as my own son, too."

"Really?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, really," Tsunade answered, planting a kiss on the cheek opposite to where her hand was, "Now, go home and make sure you get some sleep, okay kiddo?"

"Alright…Auntie Tsunade…" Naruto sighed as he walked out of the room and headed to his apartment.

Her smile widened as he called her that, though as he left, she couldn't help but stare sadly at his retreating form. Not only was he given a very raw deal by the village, but she wouldn't be seeing his happy smile or hearing his loud, jovial voice for two years.

He was such a wonderful human being, and the village that they both called home refused to see that. This wasn't the village her grandfather and Madara Uchiha founded…not anymore. Naruto would have never been treated the way he was in hers or her grandfather's day. They praise the Fourth Hokage, as their hero, and yet they spit upon his dying wish. Whatever happened to the sense of honor that the village once possessed? Whatever happened to the Will of Fire and the creed that everyone in the village was family?

"I need a drink…" she mumbled to herself as she thought of her favorite blond being gone for two years, as well as the headaches that her council and this hypocritical village constantly caused her.

 ************* Line Break *************

Naruto was woken up when the beeping sound of his alarm clock resounded through the room. Groggily he stuck his hand out from underneath the covers, grabbing the annoying thing and hitting the off button. He sat up as he threw his covers off and rubbed his eyes.

 _'7:30 already? But the alarm was supposed to go off at 6:30…Crap! I'm supposed to be at the village gate in a half hour!'_

Any hint of drowsiness instantly vanished as he noticed how much time he had left before he was supposed to leave for his training trip with Pervy Sage. Jumping out of bed, he ran towards the bathroom to make himself presentable before grabbing his backpack and rushing off towards the village gate.

 ************* Line Break *************

Meanwhile, Tsunade and Jiraiya were at the village gate, waiting for Naruto.

"It's almost 8:00…he should be here already," Tsunade mumbled.

"Meh, he's still got time," Jiraiya casually said before a goofy expression made way to his face, "If anything, he probably realized by himself that a perfect timing and entry is essential for a lady-killer!"

A tick mark formed on Tsunade's forehead before she shot Jiraiya an intimidating glare and growled dangerously, "Jiraiya…"

Jiraiya waved his hands in the face of his teammate's temper, stumbling back a step, "Wait, Tsunade! No need to get violent, now…". Before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by a loud shout.

"PERVY SAGE! AUNTIE TSUNADE!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards them. He skidded to a halt right in front of them, panting for breath after making his way here after oversleeping.

"You brat! What did I say about calling me that!" Jiraiya yelled, though he showed no surprise at all at how Naruto addressed Tsunade.

Tsunade's response was simply to grin happily at the new term of endearment.

"You know, you were almost late," Tsunade remarked with a smirk.

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Hehe, yeah, I kinda overslept. Must have forgotten to set the alarm clock an hour earlier."

The only thing his explanation earned him was a scrutinizing eyebrow from Tsunade, which lasted for a few moments, making him sweat a bit, before she sternly spoke up, "You better not start taking after Kakashi. I won't stand for you turning into a pervert who's three hours late to everything if I've got anything to say about it, you hear me?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am…" Naruto muttered, all the while nodding his head up and down.

Jiraiya just snorted at that, "Bah, Kakashi isn't that bad. If you forget about his tardiness, you could actually learn something from him, like his taste in literature."

A bonk on the head courtesy of Tsunade sent Jiraiya crashing face-first into the ground, leaving an imprint in the shape of his body.

"Oww, that hurt! That was uncalled for!" Jiraiya complained as he got up and dusted his clothes off, seemingly unharmed.

Tsunade just cracked her knuckles, "You want another one, Pervert?"

"I'm not a pervert, I'm a-" a seemingly offended Jiraiya began to correct her, only to be interrupted.

"A Super Pervert, we already know…" Naruto deadpanned, causing Jiraiya to shoot him an annoyed glance and mumble "brat" under his breath.

"You two had better get going now. The farther you're able to get today, the sooner you'll arrive at any destinations Jiraiya has in mind for this trip," Tsunade said.

"You heard the lady, Naruto. Time to go!" Jiraiya said before he walked out of the village gate. Naruto was about to follow after him, but Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"Naruto, try to learn as much as you can from Jiraiya, okay? He may be a Super Pervert, but he's also one of the greatest ninja I've ever met, and you couldn't ask for a better teacher. Trust in him, and you'll learn more from him than you ever thought possible," Tsunade said fondly. Her smile turned mischievous as she leaned over to his ear and added in a whisper, "But if you catch him doing 'research', then do alert the ladies he's peeping on. Hokage's orders."

"Of course!" Naruto cheerily exclaimed, chuckling at the thought of Pervy Sage being chased by a hoard of angry women. He then gave Tsunade a goodbye-hug, a gesture she returned. "See you in two years Auntie Tsunade. Who knows, I might even take the hat from you when I'm back, ya know?"

"You're more than welcome to it if you're able to – I could certainly do without all the paperwork!" she joked as she watched him leave after Jiraiya.

"Things won't be the same around here for the next two years…" Tsunade said to herself sadly, missing the blonde ball of sunshine already.

 ************* Line Break *************

They had made good time traveling that first day out. Nearing the border of the Land of Tea, they had stopped to make camp a couple of hours ago. The sun was setting, illuminating the clouds and the trees in its orange twilight glow. Naruto and Jiraiya were sitting around the campfire they had set up, eating the fish they had just caught and cooked. While Naruto was happily munching away, Jiraiya seemed to be in deep thought before steeling himself for a conversation that was long overdue.

With seriousness that he only showed when absolutely necessary, he said, "Naruto, we need to talk."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, wondering why Jiraiya suddenly sounded so serious.

Jiraiya sighed. "How much has Sarutobi-sensei told you about your family?"

"Only about my parents, mostly about mother though. He wouldn't tell me about my father yet, not that he can do that, now…" Naruto trailed off before taking another bite of his fish.

"Don't worry about that, you'll be told about your father when the time's right," Jiraiya assured him before he dropped the bomb, "But that's not what I want to talk about. What Sarutobi-sensei apparently didn't mention, was that I'm your godfather."

Naruto almost choked on his food, "G-godfather?! YOU'RE my godfather?!"

Jiraiya confirmed his shocked question with just a slow nod of his head.

"Then…then where were you all this time?" Naruto pleaded, feeling hurt at learning he had a godfather, one who was out and about while he was left alone for so long.

"Before you do anything rash, please hear me out," Jiraiya said before Naruto's emotions could get the better of him. Although it didn't lessen the feeling of hurt, Naruto's attention was focused on him, wanting to know why he hadn't been there for him in the past thirteen years.

"Believe me, Naruto, I wanted to be there for you more than anything. You know I'm a spymaster, right? Much of my time is spent outside of the village, gathering intel on threats to Konoha. After the Kyuubi's rampage, the village was left vulnerable, a target for the other hidden villages who would want to take advantage of that by attacking Konoha…or by trying to get their hands on the Kyuubi by kidnapping you. I was forced to spend literally all of my time outside the village back in those days. I had to make sure that we were aware of any threats from the other villages and make sure no information about you leaked out of the village to keep you and the village safe," he began to explain.

Naruto frowned, "Uh-huh…surely that didn't take thirteen years, though, right?"

"I was getting to that and no, it didn't. But by the time Konoha got back on its feet, one mission after another kept coming at me and before I knew it, I was chasing one lead after another in my efforts to eliminate threats. Most of the time I did find things that were important for Sarutobi-sensei to know, or things that would keep Konoha and you safe if they were dealt with or monitored. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki are just two examples of such threats, both of which should ring a bell to you. Before I knew, thirteen years had passed already."

"But you could have least sent some kind of message every now and then?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya sighed, "I did. I knew I was going to be away for quite some time, so I sent you letters and gifts. I wanted you to at least know who I was, that I did think about you despite my absence, and that I intended to come meet you as soon as I could. From the letters I got back, I figured everything was alright, but in hindsight, it seems you didn't get anything I sent you, and you were kept in the dark about me."

Naruto for his part was relieved to know he wasn't just abandoned. He wasn't happy about it, but he understood his mentor…godfather's reasons and couldn't be angry at him, as it was apparently beyond his control.

Although, there was something that still confused him, "How come I never received anything you sent? I never sent anything back either. Not saying you're lying, but it does sounds a bit fishy, you know?"

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he recalled his suspicions on the matter, "The letters and gifts I sent you must have been intercepted while I received fake letters in reply. After thirteen years, shortly after you graduated, my mission load suddenly lessened a great deal, almost stopping altogether. Don't you think that's a little strange, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes squinted as he adopted a thoughtful expression and brought his finger to his chin, "Hmm...that is strange. It's almost if someone was trying to keep you away from Konoha", he mused.

Jiraiya for his part looked surprised that his godson figured it out, "Got it in one, kiddo. That's exactly what has been going on. When the mission load dropped, I suspected something was wrong, but after speaking with Sarutobi-sensei, my suspicions were confirmed. I can't prove it, but most likely Danzo Shimura was pulling the strings and somehow getting leads to Sarutobi-sensei in an effort to keep me at a distance. I only know this because most of the leads I got either led me to discover things other than the leads I was investigating, or they just ended up being wild goose chases."

Now that name did ring a bell to Naruto. "The old one-eyed fossil from the council? That Danzo? The guy who tried to take over my training?"

Jiraiya grimaced at that. Tsunade had filled him in about Danzo's recent attempt to get Naruto under his thumb. His expression turned deadly serious as he told Naruto, "That's Danzo, alright. He's a shady man and a complete warmonger. Naruto, whatever you do, never, ever get involved with that man. He doesn't see you as a human being, but as a weapon for what you hold. If he could have his way, you would be turned into an emotionless weapon under his command, just like his ROOT ninjas."

Seeing the questioning look on Naruto's face, Jiraiya answered in advance, "And before you ask, ROOT is a secretive branch of ANBU under Danzo's command that was supposed to have been disbanded years ago, but they went underground. It's just that nobody has been able to prove it. These guys are conditioned to get rid of their emotions and they are fanatically loyal to Danzo – even more so than to the Hokage."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with wide eyes. He knew people back in Konoha hated him, but he never dared to think people were out to use him like that! "I got it, I'll watch my back and stay away from people like Danzo."

Naruto paused for a moment before adding, "And thanks for explaining everything…it still sucks that you couldn't be there, but at least now I understand why."

Glad that Naruto understood and accepted the reasons behind his absence, Jiraiya spoke up again, this time sounding more like his jovial self, "Good, now that that's all sorted out, why don't I tell you some more about myself since you haven't gotten my letters in the past years?"

For the next hour they continued to talk, telling each other about themselves as they tried to make for lost time before they got back to training.

 **End of Chapter**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **With this chapter, the major differences between Naruto's childhood in this story and in canon should be fairly clear. The next chapter will wrap the prologue up and start the main story. For those who are wondering, there's a reason the Hyuuga clan has taken over the Uchiha clan's position as the police force as well as why Hinata is unlike her canon counterpart as you will see during the course of the story and it's not just a whim or any anti-Hinata or anti-Hyuuga sentiments on my part.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ **Summary: Kushina Uzumaki survived the fateful night of the Nine-Tails' attack, albeit barely. Fifteen years later she wakes up, is reunited with her now teenaged son, and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero accidentally gets her hands on The Mask and what will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but whatever it is, one thing is for certain: she'll look damn good doing whatever it is!**_

 _ **As usual, credit to my helper/co-author, ncpfan, for helping me out with this story.**_

 _ **Like I promised in the first chapter, The Mask will be introduced in this chapter. Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **Start of Chapter**

Tsunade was performing her usual check-up on Kushina, as she had taken over the duties of monitoring the comatose woman upon herself from the moment Naruto had shown Kushina to her. Shortly after Naruto revealed the fiery redhead's existence to the new Hokage, Tsunade was able to diagnose and discern that although her physical injuries had been healed rather quickly and quite thoroughly, the fact that she had the Nine-Tails ripped out of her was what truly kept her from recovering.

Once she had discovered this, a theory began to form in her mind about possible treatment for the former jinchuuriki. Once she had worked out most of the details and even some of the medical formulae regarding her theory, she had asked Naruto to try and summon a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra. It wasn't easy, but between her and Jiraiya's skills, they were able to extract a small amount of the fox's chakra and seal it into Kushina. Once they did this, they released the stasis seals on her body, ready to place her back into stasis should she show signs of deterioration.

There had been nothing but good news ever since. Kushina had shown constant, steady and continual signs of recovery. It was a slow process, but the chances of Kushina waking up were much higher than before – in fact, she was certain that it was only a matter of time before Kushina would wake up, and she calculated a ninety percent chance for Kushina making a full recovery without any lasting harm or damage to her body.

She recorded Kushina's vital signs and looked at her patient. Tsunade gasped lightly as Kushina stirred ever so slightly and slowly opened her eyes. She could see that Kushina tried to say something, but having been in stasis for thirteen years and in a continued coma for almost two years after that, left her quite groggy and lethargic.

"Easy Kushina. I know you are confused and have many questions, but right now your body and mind both need time to adjust to consciousness again," Tsunade explained in a doctorly fashion, "You should be able to get out of bed within the next few days, thanks to your clan's vitality. Anyone else would've been stuck in bed longer, you know? I will fill you in on everything when your recovery is complete. In the meanwhile, I'll see to your needs."

Kushina slowly nodded her head, indicating she understood what Tsunade said and did as she was told.

 ************* Line Break *************

The next few days felt like an eternity to Kushina. She had followed Tsunade's orders – at first out of a lack of strength to disobey, but then begrudgingly and out of fear when Tsunade threatened not only to restrain her to the bed, but to also make sure she would require extra 'hospitalization' should she not follow her instructions to the letter – but that didn't mean boredom and curiosity weren't killing her! She had so many questions, and Tsunade still hadn't seen fit to answer any of them yet!

Her unsatisfied thirst for answers was threatening to drive her mad! She needed to know: How was she still alive? How long had she been out? What had happened in the village since? And the one question she wanted answered most of all: Was her baby alright, and where was he? The last thing she remembered was that horrible night…losing consciousness while feeding her newborn son. Her thoughts were interrupted as Tsunade entered the room, greeting her before performing her daily checkup.

After performing her scans and recording her vitals, Tsunade concluded everything was fine, "Kushina, I'm please to tell you that you are a picture of health. Now-"

Kushina jumped out of the hospital bed once she heard that, cutting Tsunade off as she yelled, "Finally! I've had enough of lying in bed for so long!"

"Stop complaining, it was just three days," Tsunade deadpanned, noting that Naruto definitely got his impatience from his mother, "Most people don't even get up in such little time."

"Now that I'm better, will you PLEASE tell me how I ended up here? How am I even alive after the fox has been ripped out of me? What's been going on? And where is my baby?" Kushina frantically asked, firing multiple questions at Tsunade at once.

Tsunade sighed, cursing her legendary bad luck as the duty to inform the young mother in front of her about everything that had happened fell upon her. One thing was for certain: Kushina's response was not going to be pretty when Tsunade broke the news to her.

"Alright, sit down and don't interrupt me," she said sternly and started at the beginning, "Now, as you probably remember, the Nine-Tails was extracted from you and you were impaled by the beast's claw, leaving you with a large hole in your stomach. Once again, you can thank the your clan's vitality for the fact you are still alive after all of that."

Kushina grimaced at the memory which was still so fresh in her mind.

"That said, even an Uzumaki could not have survived that," Tsunade said in a matter-of-fact tone, causing a feeling of discomfort to wash over Kushina, "In fact, when Sarutobi-sensei and Jiraiya found you, you were barely alive. They brought you to this secret facility and used fuinjutsu to place you into a stasis so your injuries could be healed in safety and over time, something that did not prove to be easy because of the Nine-Tails' extraction. It's only been over the last two years – since I got back to the village and became the Fifth Hokage – that your condition actually improved gradually until you finally woke up and that brings us here."

Seeing that Tsunade did not continue, Kushina asked the dreaded question she was afraid to ask, "How long…how long have I been here, Tsunade?"

Tsunade took a deep breath before dropping the bomb, "Over fifteen years…"

She winced at seeing the look of utter horror on Kushina's face. Nothing could have prepared the poor woman for this.

"FIFTEEN YEARS!?" Kushina screamed, before bringing her hands to her mouth as tears began to fall and involuntary, heaving sobs forced their way up from her throat. She had never been so happy as when she heard she was pregnant and that she was going to be a mother. For ten months, she had looked forward to showering her baby with her love, giving him the happy childhood she didn't have.

And now, as if Fate was playing a cruel trick on her, she learned that fifteen years had gone by as she laid in stasis?! Fifteen years! An entire childhood worth of precious, irreplaceable moments and priceless memories – gone, never having had the chance to be realized! Her baby had been without her all this time: without her to read him bedtime stories, to tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight, to cook him homemade meals like only a parent could, to bring and pick him up from school, to hold him when he was sad!

Her sobs quickly gave way to hysteric wails, "No…no…! NOOOOO! This can't be happening!"

Tsunade moved over and held her, trying to comfort the distraught her as wept uncontrollably, "I'm sorry, Kushina. I'm so sorry."

Almost half an hour went by before Kushina had cried herself hoarse and finally began to calm down somewhat.

"Who has been taking care of my Naru-chan?" Kushina asked with renewed trepidation, "Where is he now?! How is he living?! Is he even healthy, or happy?! Does he know about me?! Please tell me he doesn't hate me or think I abandoned him or anything like that!"

"NO!" Tsunade yelled out, prompting Kushina to stop talking as she reassured her, "Naruto knows everything about what happened to you. He's the one who showed me your body, and he was desperate to beg me to help you. His exact words were, "I just want my Mom".

Kushina breathed a sigh of near-ecstatic relief upon hearing that her son wanted her in his life that badly. She couldn't help the relieved smile that crossed her face, though her tears never stopped flowing.

"Now, Kushina," Tsunade began anew, once again garnering the redhead's attention, "Let me finish telling you the rest, okay?"

Kushina, noting the apologetic frown on Tsunade's face, asked with trepidation, "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

The look on Tsunade's face spoke confirmed her fears and Tsunade began to recount what she knew of how Naruto had been living. She told her how the village had treated him as a social pariah because they only saw him as the Nine-Tails itself. She explained how as a result of that, he grew up lonely with nobody to take care of him despite Hiruzen's efforts along with how and how Jiraiya was kept away from Konoha, unable to take care of her son.

For Kushina, it was like someone hit her in the face with a sledgehammer. Not only had her little maelstrom been bereft of his mother during his childhood – when he needed her the most – but he was lonely and unhappy too! And worst off all, it was all because of the village that she had come to call her home and because of her husband's…former-husband's naivety to trust the villagers – for which he sacrificed himself and condemned their son for – to treat him a hero.

Wiping her last tears away, a look of determination suddenly crossed over her face. "Please take me to my son, Tsunade…I have to see him…he needs me…I refuse to let him be alone and unhappy anymore!" Kushina demanded. The fifteen years they had lost were gone forever, but she would be damned if her baby boy had to go on like this for even one minute longer!

"Err, about that…Naruto is out of the village, on a training trip with Jiraiya. They will be back in a month though," Tsunade told her, "In the meantime, why don't you settle in your house again so that Naruto can move in right away with you when he's back? I'm sure it'll need some cleaning up and that Naruto's room needs refurnishing."

"Yes…I guess you're right. Maybe that will keep my busy while I'm waiting for my son."

Both women got up and Kushina followed after Tsunade as they headed towards her house. Kushina, suddenly remembering a small detail that Tsunade had mentioned that she had brushed to the side in light of wanting to hear about her son, stopped suddenly and stood stock-still.

Her eyes widened, she turned to Tsunade, and yelled out in shock, "WAIT A MINUTE! YOU'RE THE HOKAGE?!"

 ************* Line Break *************

The last month had been excruciatingly long to Kushina. No matter what she did, her mind kept wandering towards her son. Each day seemed to grow longer as the day of her son's return drew near, but today she would finally see her son! It was a very excited Kushina Uzumaki who was bouncing on her feet in eager anticipation as she waited with Tsunade in her office, cloaked under the Transparent Escape Jutsu to surprise Naruto as they had planned.

The sounds of loud footsteps and an even louder shout signaled that her torturous waiting had finally come to an end. Kushina's excitement escalated even further, threatening to overtake her completely, but it was accompanied by anxiety and worry. What if he thought she was weird? What if he didn't want to connect with her the way she wanted to connect with him? What if he thought he was too old to need his mother?!

"AUNTIE TSUNADE, I'M BACK!" Konoha's number one knucklehead shouted at the top of his lungs as he came running into Tsunade's office, slamming the doors open on his way.

It was all Kushina could do to keep from dispelling the camouflage jutsu she was under and take the young man before her in her arms on order to smother him in hugs and kisses. There he was, just a few yards away from her! He looked healthy, and very happy if that grin of his was anything to go by.

In an instant, she drank in every visible detail she could discern about him and sized him up. He was her son, there was no doubting that! He may have inherited his hair and his eyes from Minato, but he had her face, her smile, and most importantly, her wildly outspoken personality. And if what Tsunade had told her about him was accurate, he had also inherited her spirit and her values, as well.

"Naruto!" Tsunade exclaimed with a wide smile a split-second after he had greeted her. She immediately got up from her seat and pulled Naruto in a hug, which he eagerly returned, prompting her to moan with contentment and almost-motherly affection.

"Hehe, missed me?" Naruto asked with his trademark grin plastered on his face.

"Pfft, not at all! I was having the time of my life with an assistant who hides my sake and nothing but paperwork to look forward to every day for three years! Of course I missed you, you silly!" Tsunade said with mock indignation before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "It's good to have you back, Kiddo. Things just haven't been the same without you."

Taking a step back, she took in his physical appearance. His growth spurt had finally kicked in and he was wearing a new jumpsuit – one that was black and orange, more form-fitting and did she mention it was not completely orange? "My, my, you've really grown over the last two years," she smirked, "And I see Jiraiya managed to get you to tone down on the orange too."

"Yup, they can't call me a squirt now anymore or complain too much about the orange, y'know!" Naruto grinned before adopting a thoughtful expression and adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with orange…"

Tsunade smiled and placed a gentle hand on Naruto's cheek for a moment, "Glad to see you haven't changed. You're still the same boisterous and exuberant Naruto I know and love."

She went back to sit behind her desk and, once seated, asked, "So, how has your training trip been?"

"It was great!" Naruto crowed before squinting his eyes and putting his finger against his chin, looking like he was deep in thought, "Hmm, where to start…" he pondered for a moment before he began to sum up what he considered the important parts of the last two years, all the while using, "Well, I've learned a lot from Pervy Sage, we've been to a lot of places, and we actually got to make up for a lot of lost time."

"I'm glad to hear that, and I'm sure Jiraiya will tell me all about it," Tsunade said, frowning at the mention of Jiraiya, "Speaking of which, where is Jiraiya? Shouldn't he be with you?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "You know him. He went off to do his 'research' the moment we entered the village."

Tsunade's eye twitched. Her teammate was not a bad person, but he could be infuriating at times! Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down, "Why am I not surprised? Ugh, no matter."

"So uhm…how is Mom doing? Is she doing any better?" Naruto asked with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness in his voice. After all these years, he was not expecting much improvement, but that didn't stop him from wishing and hoping.

"I was just about to mention that. Actually, her health has improved dramatically," Tsunade grinned before pointing behind him, "In fact, why don't you see for yourself?"

Kushina undid the cloaking jutsu as Naruto turned around. He stood frozen and wide-eyed in his spot and let out a loud gasp at the sight of his mother standing before him, tears running down her face, past her overjoyed smile. She reached her hands to him as she sniffled, looking at him with nothing but unadulterated adoration and love.

As she reached him, her hands made their way to his cheeks, caressing and exploring them as if to familiarize herself with the feel of her precious son's face. Naruto's voice box almost failed him as he only managed to ask a faint incredulous, "M-M-Mom? Is…is that you? Is this real…?"

In that instant, Kushina cast off all restraint and pulled him into a tight hug, her previously quiet tears now accompanied by loud sobs. Naruto brought his arms around Kushina's form and held her just as tightly. Kushina then proceeded to place her hands on each side of his neck and started kissing him all over his face with reckless abandon – his cheeks, his forehead, even his lips, ears and nose weren't safe from her kisses. He didn't care – in fact, it only made him even happier.

"Ruto-chan! My little Ruto-chan, my sweet little baby boy!" Kushina exclaimed joyfully, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for leaving you alone for so long!"

Naruto clutched his mother's form even closer as if she was the most precious thing in the world – which to him, she was – and his happy-go-lucky mask cracked, leaving behind a weeping boy who had finally met his mother after having been apart from her for far too long, "Mom, I've been dreaming of this day for ten long years! I can't believe you're finally awake and here! I've wanted to meet you for so long, y'know?"

"You said 'y'know'…you really are my child," Kushina remarked with a gentle laugh, "It's alright, my precious baby boy. I'm here now and I swear I will never leave you alone again. Never!"

Kushina pulled back once more, gently taking his face in her hands and just looking at him, studying every feature on what, to her, was his perfect face, "Look at you – so handsome and bright. And those whisker marks are so adorable."

"You're beautiful, too, Mom," Naruto told her, feeling the need to say something back.

She simply smiled as her hands caressed his face, strumming her fingers through his hair, coming down to his neck and bringing them back up to his cheeks once more. Like him, she was gazing upon him and handling him as though no greater treasure could be found in the world.

Tsunade smiled as she witnessed the heartwarming, long-overdue reunion between the mother and son in front of her, happy that she could have helped bring some happiness into Naruto's life now that he had his mother back. In all her days as a medic-nin, she had never healed a deeper wound. She felt profoundly satisfied in a way she never before had.

Seeing that Naruto and Kushina pulled apart, Naruto turned towards Tsunade and gave her a grateful hug, "Thank you. Thank you so much…this means the world to me!"

"I know, kiddo, and I was so glad to be able to do it for both of you. It's the least you deserve after the raw deal life has given you," Tsunade said with a warm smile.

"I guess I should go tidy my place up so Mom can move in," Naruto sheepishly said.

"Oh, no, no, mister. From now on, you'll be living in my home, our home, where you belong," Kushina said with a motherly smile.

Home. A place where he belonged. Naruto smiled at hearing that, "Alright! I'll go get my stuff from my apartment right away then!"

"No need, Kiddo. Your mother and I already took care of that for you," Tsunade grinned, "Now, why don't you two get out of here and take some time to get to know each other? Naruto, I'm granting you two weeks of leave so you can bond with your mother. I'll speak with Jiraiya so he can fill me in on the details of your training trip. You two deserve to spend some time together after so long."

"We will. Kami knows how much catching up we have to do. Thank you for everything, Tsunade," Kushina said before turning towards Naruto, "Sweetheart, let's go home. There's so much we have to talk about and do together."

Tsunade looked on as the pair of them left her office and headed home. She stood up and also left her office with an evil grin as she went to retrieve Jiraiya herself. She could have sent a shinobi to retrieve Jiraiya, but it would be so much more intimidating if she caught him red-handed as he was doing his "research" after all.

 ************* Line Break *************

Naruto had quickly taken a shine to his new home. To say it was an improvement compared to his apartment would be an understatement. While Kushina went to prepare dinner, Naruto took a shower as he was still somewhat sweaty, not having had the time to freshen up that day.

Kushina had just finished preparing dinner. This would be the first time her son would have a home-cooked meal and as such, she had made yakisoba. As she covered the table, Naruto came downstairs, having finished his shower and took a place that Kushina indicated at the table. He took in the scent of the food before quickly taking a bite.

"Mmm. This is delicious, Mom!" Naruto beamed with his mouth still full.

Kushina giggled at her son's antics. He was just as impatient as she was. I'm glad you think so, although you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full."

Naruto looked a little bit sheepish at that as he scratched the back of his head, "Hehe, sorry, it was just so good, I couldn't help myself."

Kushina assured him she understood and the two of them ate their meal. Once they finished eating, there was a moment of silence until Naruto broke the ice, "So, err…what exactly are we supposed to do?"

"What do you mean, Sweetheart?" Kushina asked, looking confused."

"Well, I don't really know how people in families are supposed to be, y'know? How are we supposed to talk to each other, or act around each other? What kinds of things should we talk about and what kinds of things should we not talk about? It's just…I don't really know what to do," Naruto said, speaking faster and more confused with each question, clearly belying just how lost he felt.

Understanding dawned upon Kushina and she gave him a reassuring smile, "Naruto-kun, this is just as new to me as it is to you. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been part of a family, but I've never been a mother before. I woke up last month expecting to be given a baby boy to nurse only to find out that my baby boy is almost sixteen years old, now."

"Sweetheart, there's no manual for how to be a family. Every family is different, they figure it out and go with whatever works for them," she said before taking one of Naruto's hands in hers and laying her other hand tenderly on his face, "And that's what we'll do: we'll figure out how to do this together, and we'll support each other as we learn. We'll laugh together, we'll cry together, we'll even fight with each other from time to time and make up afterwards. But what's most important is that we'll be close, we'll stay close, we'll draw even closer, and we'll grow and learn how to be OUR own family, together."

Unused to such intimate contact from a person he did not have to "win over" caused a faint blush to appear on Naruto's face. Naruto began to smile, his unease put to rest, "Yeah. I can do that. Thanks, Mom."

Over the next few hours, he and his mother began getting to know each other. It was somewhat awkward as neither knew where to begin, so they did it in a way they were familiar with: sharing their likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. From there on, the ball simply rolled. Grandpa Hiruzen had told him he really took after his mother, but he never imagined they were so much alike!

Kushina was also struck by how much Naruto took after her. The shape of his face aside, he looked much like Minato, but his personality was so much like hers, just like Tsunade had told her. As she listened to Naruto tell her about his life, she had to smile when he told her about his pranks, his missions, how much he liked ramen, and so forth.

But she also felt sadness despite not showing it. It was also clear that he had been so lonely when he spoke of how parents wouldn't let children play with him, how people believed he was a nine-tailed monster fox, how he was ostracized and given the short stick in the academy, how the village cracked down on him for failing to retrieve his friend-turned-traitor, and how his godfather was kept away from him. She could relate to the feeling of loneliness and isolation that he expressed to her, even if she didn't have it as bad as he did, or for as long.

She couldn't ponder on those thoughts for long as Naruto began to tell her about the prank he pulled before his third attempt at graduating. Hearing that he painted the Hokage Monument in a bright orange jumpsuit during bright day was golden!

"Really? You painted the Hokage Monument? And even painted whisker marks on the Fourth's face? That's so cool, y'know!" Kushina practically roared in laughter, looking she was almost falling out of her chair as she did so.

Naruto was happily laughing along – a true laugh – which Kushina noted was heartwarming, especially compared to the forced laughs he made when he tried to "laugh off" his feelings of pain and isolation.

Figuring it was her turn, Kushina began to tell about her life, like how she ended up in Konoha, how she became the Nine-Tails' second jinchuuriki after Mito Uzumaki, how she wanted to become the first female Hokage, how she was initially treated like an outsider by the other kids, how Kumo ninjas tried to kidnap her. She also told him of funnier things, like her own pranks and how she turned other kids who called her "tomato" into smashed tomatoes – earning the nickname "Red-Hot Habanero" as she did so.

And at Naruto's urging, she also told him about how she met his father and how she fell in love with him. Naruto listened intently to every word she said – from her first impression of his father until his rescue of her, and of his telling her that it was her red hair, their red thread of fate, that had led him to her and brought them together.

He was sporting a goofy grin, "That was really cool! But I can see why Dad loved your hair – it's really beautiful…like fiery threads of ruby, y'know!"

Kushina was somewhat surprised. Even though she didn't hate her hair anymore since the day Minato rescued her from those Kumo ninjas, it still flattered her to be complimented on it, and even more so, her son's sincerity when he called her red hair beautiful touched her. "Why thank you! That makes you the second person who has ever complimented my hair," Kushina said with a loving smile, "There are a few special words I've only bestowed on those who complimented my hair. Naruto-kun, will you accept them?"

Naruto, who was still grinning, nodded his head with much enthusiasm. "Uh-huh!"

"I love you."

Naruto gasped, his eyes went wide, and two silent tears escaped each of his tear ducts, "No one's…ever…said that to me, before," he told her tearfully as an ecstatic smile made its way across his face, "I love you, too, Mom! I love you so much!"

After another tearful hug that lasted several minutes, the two of them were able to relax once again. Three simple words that meant the world to him, especially because for once, he did not have to earn it – this was a mother's unconditional love. His grin turned into a true smile that almost threatened to split his face.

"Hey, Mom? I kinda forgot to ask in all the excitement, but err…who was my father by the way?" Naruto sheepishly asked before sighing and looking down at the table, "I mean, Grandpa explained to me why I couldn't be told about it because I was too young at the time and because Dad's Will stated that I'd have to be a chunin before being told, but I don't know how long that will take if the village keeps pulling the same crap they did two years ago…"

Kushina frowned. Tsunade had told her that despite Naruto's feats, he had been denied a promotion to chunin by the village – a promotion that was well-earned. He would end up being an eternal genin if the villagers had their way and the way they spat on his efforts and achievements angered her greatly. That said, she was also somewhat nervous about telling him who his father was as the truth can be more painful than any sword or jutsu, especially in this case.

She steeled herself as she made up her mind and decided to tell him, regardless of what her late husband's Will stated regarding the conditions of his being given that knowledge – his Will could kiss her merry butt, especially after all the harm that Minato's blind faith in the village had done to their, no…to HER son. The truth had been kept from him for far too long and she would be damned if she hurt him by denying him the basic right to know of his parentage.

"Your father's name was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage," Kushina said solemnly, prompting Naruto's head to snap in her direction, shock and horror written all over his face as he connected the dots.

Whatever joy Naruto felt at learning who his father was, paled next to feeling of hurt and betrayal at learning his father's identity. Grandpa Hiruzen had explained why the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Nine-Tails into him – although without revealing that they were related. He didn't like it, but he understood and grudgingly accepted it. Hell, if he were to guess, based on what he was told, his…father, probably sealed the Nine-Tails in him because he probably couldn't ask someone else to sacrifice their own child if he wasn't prepared to do so himself.

So yes, while he was peeved at his father being the same man who sealed the Nine-Tails in him, that wasn't what hurt him. What really hurt him was the fact that his father so blindly trusted the villagers to treat him right instead of having Naruto's own well-being in mind first and foremost by taking precautions in the event the villagers would see him as the monster fox itself.

His body trembled and tears began to well up in his eyes which were quickly followed by sobs. Kushina quickly moved over to hold him to her as he wept, trying to comfort him.

"I'm so sorry, Honey. I can only imagine how much you're hurting right now and how betrayed you must feel, but I can promise you one thing: I'm here now, and I won't ever leave you or hurt you. And I never go back on my word."

The Uzumaki duo remained like that for another fifteen minutes before Naruto's tears finally subsided. Kushina looked at her son with profound sadness as she cursed her late husband's foolishness, _'Minato, you idiot…_ _l_ _ook at what you have done to our boy.'_

 ************* Line Break *************

As her son had just went out training with his team, Kushina busied herself with the household chores. She was doing the laundry until the doorbell rang and a familiar voice shouted, "Rise and shine, Naruto!" prompting her to go to the door, wondering who it was. When she opened the door, she saw it was Jiraiya, looking like he had seen a ghost.

"K-Kushina? Is…is that really you?" Jiraiya stammered in bewilderment and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Surely Tsunade would have told him if she had managed to fix Kushina up. Then again, she might not, considering how pissed she was when she caught him doing his research.

"You bet it is! It's good to see you again Jiraiya," Kushina greeted him with a warm smile of her own, giving the man who was practically family a hug, which he was content to return.

Still scarcely able to believe it, Jiraiya asked, "How? When?"

"Come on in! I'll tell you over some tea. We got so much to talk about!" Kushina said excitedly, practically dragging the toad sage with her. Jiraiya took place at the table as she served him a cup of tea. Helping herself to some tea, she sat down next to Jiraiya.

"So, how are you doing?" Kushina asked awkwardly, not really knowing where to begin.

"Heh, I can't really complain – I'm doing quite good actually. I got back from a fruitful training trip with your little knucklehead and the ladies still swoon before the gallant Jiraiya. And I just found out you are up and running," Jiraiya told her, "I mean, don't take this wrong, but after so long, it's almost too much to take in!"

"Yeah, I get that, considering how hopeless things looked," Kushina said, looking slightly downcast at the memory of the years she had lost in stasis and coma.

"Well, you're back again and that's what matters," Jiraiya said and put a hand on her shoulder as he tried to console her slightly. Seeing Kushina pushing the sad expression on her face, he informed her in a more serious tone, "Kushina…there are some other things I need to discuss with you."

"Hmm? What is it?" Kushina asked, wondering what bothered the toad sage.

"This is awkward, but I uhm…I was supposed to take care of Naruto, being his godfather and everything and I tried to, but well, things didn't go as planned, so I was not there during the boy's childhood because of-" Jiraiya awkwardly babbled, fidgeting as his voice became smaller, as if he expected an unpleasant reaction from Kushina.

"Jiraiya," Kushina said, interrupting Jiraiya and assured him she was not angry with him, "Tsunade already told me everything. I know it's not your fault and you tried your best. I'm not angry with you. If anyone's fault, it's that one-eyed war-hawk's."

Jiraiya let out an elated sigh of relief and scratched the back of his head, "Phew, and here I was afraid for a moment you'd blow up on me hehe."

"I'm not that bad," Kushina frowned, and relented when she saw Jiraiya deadpan, "…Okay, I've got a temper, but still!"

"Still, for what it's worth, Naruto and I have been able to spend a fair amount of quality time during our training trip," Jiraiya offered.

At the mention of her son and his training trip, she excitably said, "Oh, now that you mention it, I want to know everything about what my baby boy has learned and been up to on the road!" and began to fire one question after another in a fit of maternal worry, "Did he eat well? Did he brush his teeth everyday? You didn't let him gamble or drink alcohol, did you?"

Jiraiya held his hands up to gesture that everything was fine and reassured her, "He's fine. He took good care of himself and he did nothing you would disapprove of," and began to regale Kushina about Naruto's training trip, "Okay, the first place we visited was the Land of Hot Water…"

Kushina listened with rapt attention as Jiraiya told her everything her son had been up to, the he had learned, how he bonded with his godfather. Laughter could be heard through the Uzumaki household as the funnier happenings over the last couple of years were mentioned.

 ************* Line Break *************

Over the next several weeks, Naruto and Kushina had gotten to know each other rather well. Tsunade was able to announce to the village that Kushina Uzumaki had been in a coma since the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, and had come out of said coma a few weeks ago. The village took the announcement of Kushina's survival quite well, the announcement of Naruto being hers and Minato Namikaze's son…not so much.

When it was explained to them that it was the strain of giving birth to him, coupled with injuries she suffered as she and Minato Namikaze worked to save THEIR child's life and seal the Nine-Tails into him, they objected loudly, saying it was all a lie. The crowd themselves began to degenerate into baser emotions, and it looked as though they might start to get violent. The Hyuuga Police Force had hauled some of the more ornery citizens away and charged them with disturbing the peace. The rest of them got the hint, though it did nothing to lessen their hostility towards their jinchuriki as they also tried to put themselves into Kushina's good graces.

As they were seen together out in the village, Kushina would catch people glancing, pointing and whispering as she and Naruto walked by. During one such outing, a squad of three Hyuuga Policemen on patrol attempted to stop them and take Naruto into custody on some trumped-up charge – to which Kushina didn't at all take kindly. She took even less kindly to the fact that they were being exceedingly rough with Naruto, which prompted her to take action. One of those officers left that encounter with one less eye and a nasty scar, one left without a hand and with a mangled lower leg, and the third didn't leave with his life, as Kushina had sent one of her chains through the man's chest when he attempted to strike Naruto in his own chest with a Gentle Fist attack. Relations between the Hyuuga and the Uzumakis were noticeable strained after that, particularly since Tsunade endorsed Kushina's actions and had any and all potential charged against her dropped for the whole affair.

Other than the odd event such as that, they fell into their own routine: when not at home, Naruto continued to train and go out on missions, which left Kushina with a lot of time on her hands. During the month she was waiting for Naruto's return from his training trip, she had taken up the task of restoring the Uzumaki Temple and its grounds. Being Uzumaki Clan property, the village had not deemed it their responsibility to see to the property's upkeep, and it had been falling into disrepair since the day of Mito Uzumaki's passing.

It was on her way home from one such day of restoration work that a colorful flier caught her eye. It was an advertisement for ballroom dancing lessons at the Swinging Leaf, one of Konoha's ritzier and more popular nightclubs. The lessons were to take place the following morning at ten o'clock, and ending at five in the afternoon, just one hour before the club itself would open. The name of the agency offering the lessons was one that Kushina was familiar with, and she knew they weren't based in Konoha – which meant that she and Naruto could have some fun without being turned away due to Naruto's stigma, at the very least.

Seeing that it was priced quite reasonably for six hours of lessons with refreshments and a small lunch provided, she immediately made a detour on her route home – to the Swinging Leaf to sign her and Naruto up for ballroom dancing lessons. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, and Kami only knew how much she and her son needed to do something fun to simply enjoy themselves and forget about their troubles for a little while! Between the grief the village gave her son as they continued to treat him like a pariah, and her worries over his well-being, this looked like exactly what they needed.

That following morning found the two of them inside the Swinging Leaf, with nobody that either of them recognized – to both their relief. They were treated as courteously as anyone else, which caused both of them to relax. Naruto would savor this day as a day where he was treated like a normal human being by those around him, if only for a little while. Both he and his mother were very happy with the welcoming atmosphere Naruto got to experience, and very receptive to the lessons and teaching style of the instructors.

The most enjoyable part of the whole class was the last hour-and-a-half where, after the lessons were given for the dances, slow, soft music was played and those who were there could dance as they wished on the dance floor. Many would put their lessons to use, but others would simply use the time to hold each other and sway slowly to the music. This was what Naruto and Kushina found themselves doing, Kushina with her arms around Naruto's neck, Naruto with his arms around Kushina's waist, both of them smiling contently, lost in their own little world.

As they simply danced with each other, Kushina found herself getting lost in her son's eyes. Her breathing began to quicken, and she felt a flush begin to spread across her cheeks. His smile – the first true, genuine smile she'd ever seen on his face – seemed to lend a radiant brilliance to his face that she'd never seen on anyone else before. She noticed him frown slightly and tilt his head, asking her with a glance if she was alright. Touched as she was by his concern for her, she smiled at him reassuringly and nodded, leaning in and giving him a lingering kiss on his cheek. She could have sworn she heard his breath catch in his throat as she did this.

When the time came for them to leave, both of them thanked the instructors profusely for the lessons and for the experience they were able to share, leaving the instructors staring at them quizzically, wondering why two people were so grateful for a simple day of dancing instruction, as if they'd never before had fun in their lives. Kushina took Naruto's hand and strolled home with him, not noticing that she had interlocked her fingers with his. They both talked and laughed all the way home, and as this happened, Kushina began to realize that her feelings for Naruto were beginning to run far deeper than motherly instincts…she was becoming attracted to him as a man.

As she fretted over this in her mind, she didn't know that similar feelings were beginning to develop within the heart of the man whose hand she was currently holding.

 ************* Line Break *************

Kushina was resuming her work on restoring the Uzumaki Temple and grounds – an activity that helped her to deal with the energy that came from worry over her son. She just wished she could help him in some way. She was glad that he was finally over his senseless crush on his Kami-awful teammate Sakura, but he was at that age where he wanted someone to love him – someone that wasn't his mother. It worried her that while it was no secret that many women were physically attracted to him – she blushed slightly as she thought of him training without a shirt on – none of them wanted anything lasting with him for what she deemed to be good and right reasons!

Some of Naruto's female peers and even some among the twenty-somethings in the village talked about how they wouldn't mind going a round or two with him in the sheets, but they certainly wouldn't want to be seen with him in public. Remembering that made her grit her teeth. There was that Hinata Hyuuga girl, who seemed to have taken a liking to him, but she would never put Naruto's interests before those of her clan or her father – and they absolutely did not have Naruto's best interests at heart. Not at all.

But other than that, it was the usual – disdain, hatred, coldness – Naruto was a social pariah. And he absolutely did not deserve to be. He was the only reason those filthy, selfish, ungrateful people were still alive today! It was only his will that kept the Nine-Tails locked away and unable to escape to annihilate them all and vaporize the village. She sometimes wondered why Minato even bothered to save the village at all – he really had been so naive. And it was Naruto who was paying the price for that naivety now. She was grateful her husband was dead – because if he was still alive, there was no way she could have forgiven him for what Naruto had been through. It certainly helped her to let any lingering feelings of spousal love die along with him.

But therein lay the problem. She was now attracted to her son – in a way that she knew she shouldn't be. Granted, since she had been comatose for his entire childhood, they never got the chance to forge a proper mother/son bond, and they were doing the best they can to do that. They both loved each other – deeply – but it couldn't be defined as a love between a mother and her son. She really didn't know how it was for him, but for her, his resemblance to Minato made it easy for her to become drawn to him. The first time they had met was as adults, so their relationship was more like siblings or close, close friends with a bit of mother/son thrown in – and on her side at least, there was a definite romantic aspect to it…and that romantic aspect was growing.

While she knew it was Naruto's similarities to his father that initially attracted her, it was the differences that caused those feelings to deepen. It made her smile yet frightened her at the same time. Even though incest was practiced in clans – usually between siblings and cousins – so as to keep their bloodlines intact, there was no way that Konoha would condone her and Naruto together. What truly angered her, though, was that it had nothing to do with their being mother and child – except to those who truly cared about both of them. No, the truth would be that to Konoha, she was the 'revered' widow of the great Fourth Hokage, while Naruto was the village pariah and scapegoat, and in their minds, Naruto had no right to sully "Lady Namikaze's" good name and reputation with his advances or his presence – hell, they said things like that right now! And it disgusted her!

While the fear of Naruto coming to harm over such a relationship was certainly real enough, her biggest fear was that Naruto would be as disgusted with her as she was with the villagers if she was to reveal to him her feelings. There was also the fear that if things went bad, she would lose her son forever! And she still loved him as his mother – that, she simply couldn't help and it would never change!

But it was also her love as his mother and her desire to see him happy that, in a sense, drove her feelings for him in a romantic direction. She was the only woman somewhat close to his age – if being nine years older could be considered close – that would love him unconditionally, and love him for who he was alone, not what he could do for her. And even if there was no other reason, she was an Uzumaki, damn it! And an Uzumaki took care of their own, no matter what!

But Naruto wasn't raised as an Uzumaki. Naruto didn't know what the Uzumaki Clan was about, nor did he know what their philosophy and values were. She gritted her teeth even harder at the fact that Naruto was in fact not raised at all, much less as an Uzumaki! Konoha had forced him to raise himself! From what she knew, Jiraiya had been kept away from him through manipulation! And Tsunade hadn't ever been made aware of the fact that he was her son until Naruto had shown the renowned medic the bunker that had housed her comatose body!

Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she reached for more debris to clean up only to find none! She had mindlessly removed the last of it as she had been lost in her thoughts. Now that she had finally cleared the last of the debris after months, she still had some energy she wanted to work off, and her mind was wandering too much right now for her to engage in training, so she started immediately looking for the remaining scattered masks and other articles of the Temple that were haphazardly strewn about.

She decided to place them in one of the storerooms until she could get some shelves in and figure out what to do with them. As she was placing some of the masks in said storeroom, her eye caught a particular mask that look very out of place in this temple. It resembled none of the porcelain/ceramic masks that represented the Shinigami, but instead it was carved from some kind of wood and had an iron band from the top of the mask down to where the nose would be.

"What's this doing here?" she muttered aloud, a confused yet intrigued frown adorning her features, "This isn't one of the Shinigami's relics."

She looked it over and turned it around to look at the inside of it. She saw a green luminescence that shifted from the left side of the mask to the right, and she could somehow feel its power. It was as if the mask was encouraging her to try it on! In an almost hypnotic fashion, she slowly brought the mask closer so that she could inspect it further.

Once it was only a few inches away from her face, it leaped out of her hands and pasted itself to her face with what felt like suction, releasing what appeared to be a puff of green smoke when it did so. The mask immediately began to grow and mutate, rubbery tendrils whipping out from its edges, circling around her head and melting together at the back, sealing the mask in place.

Kushina managed little more than a short surprised squeak before the mask began to writhe and contort like a lump of clay being kneaded along with a sound akin to balloons being twisted and bent by a conjurer. The metal bar that ran down the middle of the mask sunk into the mask as the mask's solid, yet inexplicably flexible, wooden texture began to soften until it was closer to semi-molten wax, brightening from a dull green into a bright lime green in the process and clamped itself down more firmly, molding itself to the contours of her face, and poured into her nostrils, lips and eyelids.

Oddly enough, despite the fact that her head was being bent and distorted, there was no pain. There was a burning sensation as the mask continued to shift and reform while squishing, pushing, and pulling on her head, but there was also a kind of perverse pleasure, prompting inarticulate moans and groans. She blindly reached behind her head as she tried to wrench the mask off, only to find that the edges of the mask had fused together – there was nothing to get hold of.

Green light and black smoke surrounded Kushina's body as her body suddenly began to spin around in a cyclonic manner, ever faster, until a few moments later her body was nothing more than a spinning blur that started to zoom through the Uzumaki Temple. Kushina screamed in fear and confusion, but her screams were muffled by the mask that had attached itself to her face and the loud noises caused by her whirling form. A flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder could be seen and heard as Kushina's skeleton was briefly illuminated. A few seconds later, the blurred orange and blue of the tee shirt and pants she usually wore when she was working to restore the temple shifted to what appeared to be a bright ruby red. Kushina's panicked screams also changed into moans of pleasure and cries of excitement and euphoria interspersed with an occasional high-pitched, maniacal giggle.

As abruptly as it started, the tornado stopped spinning with the sound of screeching car brakes and revealed a new, extremely well-endowed Kushina. She was dressed in a form-fitting ruby-red pantsuit ensemble that exuded style and flair with a tinge of cheesiness. Red high-heeled leather pumps led to red slacks and a matching suit jacket with coattails and a white corsage affixed to its lapel, and…she wore nothing underneath it! The two-button top did nothing to hide the vast valley of cleavage that she had no problem exposing! Her outfit was completed by a red wide-brimmed fedora hat.

Kushina grinned wildly and exclaimed the first thing that came into her mind, "Red hot, Baby! So red-hot it's SSSMOKIN'!"

What a rush! Never before had she felt so free! Free from restraint, free from inhibition, free from anything or anyone that would get in the way of her feelings and her desires! And these hot new duds were really snazzy as well! How many other women could pull off a bright ruby-red shirtless pantsuit the way she could…especially with her new magnificent rack?!

"HOLD THE PHONE!" she exclaimed to…herself, as nobody else was present, before adopting a strange grimace that one could only describe as an intensely-thoughtful expression, "If my fun bags have changed…what else looks different?! I THINK IT'S TIME TO FIND OUT! After all, I don't want to do anything to upset my adoring public, now, do I?"

She whirled in place before traveling like a speeding spinning top over to the bathroom in order to look in the mirror. The moment she stopped, she looked at her face.

The moment she saw herself staring back at her, her grin grew unnaturally wide as she greeted her reflection, "EEE-YOW! Hello there, Gorgeous! Where have YOU been all my life?!"

Her face was LIME GREEN and bizarre, and yet it somehow made her look…fabulous! Her features were all mostly recognizable, but they were more pronounced and slightly exaggerated from her normal skull structure – cheekbones sculpted and pointy, jaw stronger and more angular, chin jutted out and more squared, nose sharper, eyelashes longer, lips fuller. She stretched her cherry-red lips so she could get a look at her teeth – her mouth was wider, and her teeth were bigger, but they seemed to fit her face perfectly! And her eyes were still violet, but instead of their usual violet color, they were now the shade of bright amethysts, and they sparkled in the similar fashion! Sensual scarlet eyeshadow accentuated her amethyst-violet orbs, bringing the color of her eyes out further. Besides the change in color, her eyes were now bigger with the cornea remaining its normal size, and just like the rest of her new features, they perfectly fit her face! Her eyebrows had become featureless and pronounced, and she now sported chin and cheek dimples, and her hair – it was the same red, but instead of falling straight down, it now took on the appearance of a beautiful red mane of waves that flowed down her back! Oddly enough, though, all of her skin from the chin down was the same creamy peach complexion it always was. She reached up with her perfectly manicured hand, now brandishing cherry-red painted nails, to cup her cheek – her skin felt soft, warm and smooth, like a very fine rubber or rich moisturized skin. It felt natural, like her own face, but quicker to expression and animation!

And then, there was the rest of her body. Her bust had already been nothing to scoff at, but now her dirty pillows were even bigger than Tsunade's…and they were also shapelier and gravity-defying! Her hips were wider, and her butt was now downright spectacular – it was much bigger and protruded outward quite a bit without being the least bit fatty, her legs also seemed to have become shapelier as well. And not to mention her figure – her waistline had thinned into an hourglass-figure and her curves had become absolutely amazing! Kushina Uzumaki definitely liked what she saw!

"Let's see 'em call me 'Tomato' now!" she remarked before pouting her lips in yet another thoughtful expression and bringing her finger to her chin, "Actually…tomatoes are…succulent, juicy, sweet with just the right amount of tart AND SAVORY, and they can be served up and eaten in all kinds of ways…" and with a huge grin, she finished with, "…JUST LIKE ME!"

With a wink and a blown kiss at her reflection, Kushina zipped over to the exit of the temple and stopped just before stepping out, "Watch out, Konoha! Shina's a-comin' to town…" she quickly spun around, morphing clothes from the red pantsuit into a sexual version of an artist's costume: black beret atop her brilliant red mane, a white tunic that was splattered in paint worn open over a black-and-white striped crop top that barely contained her enormous globes, a red neck tie sash, red shorts that were so tight they might as well have been painted on, and black knee-high high-heel platform boots, holding a paintbrush in one hand and a paint palette in the other, "…and she's gonna paint it BRIGHT RED for her beautiful sexy Naru-Baby!"

She then turned around and looked back at the temple, seeing that there was still a lot of work to do to restore it.

With narrowed eyes and a furtive grin, she muttered, "But first…" before she made that familiar cross-fingered hand seal and created four shadow clones, all of whom were wearing the same green face as their creator, but were dressed in hard hats, brown construction-site jumpsuits and utility belts, while she unzipped herself from scalp to pelvis and stepped out of the unzipped skin dressed in a cherry-red skirt-suit with black stockings, a white silk blouse, red-rimmed glasses and her hair worn up in a professional manner. In one hand was a clipboard and in the other was a mechanical pencil.

"Girlfriends, this place needs a makeover," Kushina, now thinking of herself as Shina, instructed suggestively.

The four clones immediately started spinning around the temple, choosing corners of the temple to start their work. One of them was furiously working with a jackhammer, another seemed to be laying sheetrock and drywall that appeared out of thin air, the third was sawing wooden beams with a table saw, and the fourth was hammering nails into boards and creating shelves. Several minutes later, the property as a whole was completely renovated, both the grounds and the structure. A new protective outer wall had even been built and entry restricted using seals that would only allow three certain people entry: Naruto, Kushina and…SHINA!

The temple itself, while restored and expanded on the outside, looked completely different within. The walls were now red and orange, after hers and her favorite person's favorite colors. Shelves lined the walls with all of the Uzumaki masks proudly on display, also protected with seals that would only allow two/three certain Uzumakis to remove them. The floors were of flawless and varnished mahogany hardwood.

And of course, there were several side chambers as well. The first was a much more lavish bathroom, inlaid with gold faucets and fixtures, with a commode, sink, two-person sit-in shower and two-person hot tub, all of polished onyx. Then there was a fully-equipped kitchen that had any appliance or kitchen gadget that a chef could ever need, a private dining room, and a luxurious master bedroom suite with two walk-in closets and an enormous heart-shaped bed – only the best for her Naru-Baby. Satisfied with the current work, she could add additional floors and a basement later as the need for such presented themselves – it would only take a few minutes, after all.

The shadow clones dispelled, and Interior Designer Shina spun back into her pantsuit and fedora before spinning back to the temple entrance and, with a last inspecting glance at her work, shouting out, "OOOOH! Somebody STOP ME!"

Finally, bringing her arms up to her right shoulder and raising her left leg around the front of her body bent at the knee in a ready-to-run pose, she began to cyclone once more, this time leaving the temple and heading into Konoha proper! Oh, those stupid villagers who didn't love her Naru-Baby would never know what hit them!

 **End of Chapter**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **And that marks the end of the prologue. Kushina has donned The Mask and transformed into her green-faced, uninhibited alter ego: Shina. I hope you guys like the way I'm portraying Kushina's masked persona so far and please let me know what you think of it.**_

 _ **One thing to keep in mind though is that as things currently stand, I can't promise fast updates here as I will have to juggle between two stories besides alternating between writing, gaming and whatever else life throws at me.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _ **Summary: Kushina Uzumaki survived the fateful night of the Nine-Tails' attack, albeit barely. Fifteen years later she wakes up, is reunited with her now teenaged son, and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero accidentally gets her hands on The Mask and what will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but whatever it is, one thing is for certain: she'll look damn good doing whatever it is!**_

 _ **As usual, credit to my helper/co-author, ncpfan, for helping me out with this story.**_

* * *

 **Start of Chapter**

Mebuki Haruno was sitting on her couch, minding her own business and enjoying the silence. Suddenly, there was this whizzing noise that became louder by the moment. She opened the door of her apartment to see what was causing this ruckus and demanded, "What's that racket-?!"

The source of the noise, a red and green mini tornado, raced over the walkway of the first floor of the apartment complex and abruptly stopped right before her and cut her off by stuffing a bundle of cigars in her mouth which the green-faced woman that emerged from the tornado immediately lit on fire with a firelighter she pulled out of her jacket.

Shina slung her arm around Mebuki's shoulders buddy-style and wildly grinned, "SSSMOKIN'…" before spinning over to the stair railing, sitting on it with her right leg crossed over her left, her right hand resting on her right leg, her left hand held up, eyes shut and a big smile that showed her pearly whites, "…is hazardous to your health!"

The cigars exploded, covering Mebuki's face in soot, along with some of the door frame, and causing her hair to stand out. Shina twirled a microphone in her left hand which she materialized from nowhere as she slid down the railing.

"This has been a public service announcement!" Shina theatrically spoke into the microphone while holding her fedora in her other, out-held hand before throwing the microphone away and putting her hat back on. She manically laughed, "Ha Ha Haaa!" with her arms spread out wide before turning into a mini tornado again and spinning further into Konoha.

 ************* Line Break *************

"Where are they?" Hinata impatiently mumbled to herself as she was waiting near the outskirts of the village for her teammates. Suddenly a white and blue blur landed on the bench next to her and she turned to see what it was.

"What the…?" was Hinata's dumbstruck response as she saw it a girl dressed in a blue and white sailor fuku outfit with a red bow, her hair done in pigtails and sporting a toothy smile. That wasn't what weird her out though – it was the girl's green face and her features: her eyes, mouth and teeth were bigger than a human's are supposed to!

"Are they here yet, Mommy?" Shina excitedly asked in a girlish voice.

"Get lost," Hinata ground out, visibly annoyed.

"You first!" Shina smiled and pressed on a button she pulled from nowhere that read 'eject button'. A 'wrong answer buzzer' sound could be heard and the part of the bench Hinata was ejected from the bench as the part of the bench she was sitting on was shot up by a large spring, accompanied by a matching 'Boioioing!' sound.

Shina – now an adult again and dressed in her pantsuit and fedora – put her fingers in her mouth as she looked at Hinata falling down. With a sly grin and one eye almost closed and the other completely open and focused on Hinata, she searched through her back pocket and pulled out a giant megaphone, "Skydiver's rule number one: always have a parachute!" articulating each word of the rule in a staccato manner.

Just as Hinata was about to hit the ground, she was caught by Shina – now lacking the fedora hat – and found herself held at an angle of one-hundred-eighty degrees and a blonde wig of the same shade as Naruto's hair fell on the redhead's head.

"I could hold you in my arms all day long…" Shina said before dropping Hinata, turning around and pointing towards the village, causing her blonde wig to fall off, "…but the man I love is in that village!"

Hinata got up, Byakugan blazing. She gasped at what she was seeing: this woman's chakra was lime green and she could make out a form in the navel area. It was just like when she faced Naruto in the Chunin Exams, except instead of a snarling fox, this was a grinning cartoon-style face! Ignoring this, she immediately tried to attack this freak with the Gentle Fist. Said freak dodged her strikes effortlessly by warping her body, shifting it out of normal contours with cartoonish twanging sounds. And to add insult to injury, she didn't even bother to face her, instead looking on her wristwatch that suddenly appeared on he wrist and checking her teeth in a compact mirror she pulled out of her jacket.

"I'm sorry, did you still need me?" Shina asked before she rushed off with a ready-to-run pose, making the sound of a vehicle speeding by and leaving a plume of exhaust smoke behind. She immediately rushed back with a massage table and dressed like a massage therapist. She knocked Hinata into the air when she collided against the girl with the table, prompting the Hyuuga heiress to shriek in surprise, and picked up the towel from the table and placed it back over the girl as she fell on the table, stomach down. Hinata's clothes except for her underwear had come off during the fall and lay scattered around the table, although the girl had not noticed yet.

"Nothing like a wake-up with a full-body massage, eh?" Shina asked while she performed a rapid back chopping massage – and by the pained looks of Hinata's face, a very rough one – before grabbing the Hinata's leg, "You're a wrecking machine!" and pulling it far and hard in one swift jerk.

"AHH!" Hinata cried as her leg was almost dislocated and her foot nearly touched her head.

"I'm so gooood!" Shina grinned.

Hinata growled before kicking Shina off her and grabbed Shina by her scrub shirt.

"Point of interest – you dropped your towel," Shina pointed out with an amused grin on her face, pointing at Hinata's indecency, before spinning out of Hinata's hold.

Hinata looked down as she finally noticed she was wearing nothing but her underwear and quickly scrambled to pick her clothes up, but before she got the opportunity to get dressed, there was a tug on her panties and everything went dark.

"WEDGIIEEE!" Shina triumphantly yelled before bouncing away on a pogo stick with peals of crazed whooping laughter, leaving the Hyuuga heiress behind undressed with her underwear pulled over her head.

 ************* Line Break *************

Shina walked through the streets until a whistle and a call of "Hey, Buster!" prompted her to spin around and made a couple of martial art moves, but to her confusion, there was nobody.

"Yeah, that's right, down here!"

Doing as the voice that originated from her stomach instructed, she looked down and placed her hand on her abdomen…before opening it like a square hatch, revealing her stomach which sported a mouth, eyes and a very irritated expression.

"I'm gettin' reeaaal hungry and it's time you did somethin' 'bout it!" her stomach growled.

"Alright, alright! Quit growling! Nobody likes a sour stomach," Shina told her stomach, "And don't call me 'Buster', Buster! Are THESE…" she squeezed her boobs, "…the endowments of a MAN?!" before closing her stomach hatch and heading for the nearest place where she could score some snackage.

The managers of several restaurants all over Konoha were at their wits end, almost in tears of frustration. The cause? A strange green-faced woman making her way through the village and stopping at all the places that sold ramen. The first any of the shops knew about their strange customer was a green and red miniature tornado bashing the doors down and zooming around the seating area before bouncing through the door/trapdoor that lead to the storage areas. By the time the staff had been able to follow the tornado into the storage area, they would be met with the sight of the green faced woman sitting on top of a mountain of empty bowls, stuffing down ramen. It wasn't just the amount that was worrying; it was the rate and method as well. Bowls of ramen vanished within moments with the woman stretching her mouth to the diameter of a foot and simply pouring the contents in bowl by bowl. The mouth then closed giving the woman the look of a pelican before the whole lot was swallowed with an audible cartoonish gulp. When the employees attempted to grab her, she spun herself into the green and red mini-tornado that bounced around the storage area before ricocheting out of the door/trapdoor it came in and out of the front door before heading to another restaurant and repeating the whole process again – only Ichiraku's got off well as they were left with a huge bag of money.

The last place Shina stopped at was the Dango Shop. Just like in the previous store, she went straight for the storeroom and wolfed down all the dango. Besides the employees, one of the customers, Anko Mitarashi, also checked out what the ruckus was about and boy was she impressed. The way this woman stuffed down all so much dango so quickly and pinned the employees who tried to stop her to the wall by spitting out a stream of dango sticks with the speed and sound of a machine gun was simply brilliant!

"Damn, you got some style, girl," Anko complimented Shina, "Love the suit by the way."

Shina's grinned an ear-to-ear smile, "Why thank you!" and quickly spun herself into a women's tuxedo – white tuxedo shirt, black pants, purple jacket with black lapels and a red pocket square and bow tie – and introduced herself in a British James Bond accent, "The name's Mask, The Mask…" and put her arm around Anko's neck buddy-style, once more dressed in her red pantsuit, "…but my friends call me Shina," she finished with am amicable grin before spinning into a mini tornado and sweeping Anko up in the tornado as well. When the tornado vanished, it revealed that Anko was now dressed in the same pantsuit that Shina was wearing with the only difference being that hers was tan with a purple corsage.

Shina folded her arms over each other and took a moment to admire her handiwork, "Girl, you look SSPANKIN' if I do say so myself!"

"I looove it!" Anko excitedly shouted, admiring her new outfit.

She was snapped out her reverie when Shina, now dressed like a surgeon, pulled down the neckline of her jacket and inspected her neck with her right eye turned into a monocular loupe, "Wha…?"

Frowning, Shina rested her hand on this atrocious excuse of a curse seal and suddenly whipped her hand away. There was the noise of a band-aid being pulled off and a surprised yelp from Anko, who rubbed her neck as she rounded on Shina.

"What was that…about…" Anko trailed off as she stared at what Shina was holding in her hand: between her index finger and thumb was her curse seal.

"It looked hideous," Shina shrugged before crumpling the seal between her hands and tossing it over her shoulder. When it the ground it disintegrated with a poof and produced an evil-looking cloud that had a skull-like appearance because of the billows and coloring.

"It's…g…gone…?" Anko stammered brokenly, unable to believe that the curse seal that had plagued her existence for so long was finally gone. She leaped onto Shina, sobbing with joy, blubbering out near-incoherent thanks.

"Careful hun, don't wanna crease the suit," Shina winked after Anko finally let go of her.

It was then that a trio of Hyuuga police officers arrived after having been alerted of a green-faced maniac on the loose, "Ma'am, you're under arrest for causing mayhem across the village!"

Shina smirked, "Well, I'd love to stay around, BUT…!" she quickly spun around, morphing clothes into a green soldier's beret combat uniform and saluted, "…duty calls!" and assumed a cartoonish ready-to-run pose before taking off through the closed door. The Hyuuga officers quickly went on the pursuit.

"Damn, she's awesome," Anko commented to herself as she stared at the 'running man silhouette' hole Shina left behind when she made her exit with stars in her eyes, "I forgot to ask where I can get me some of that green make-up."

 ************* Line Break *************

The Hyuuga police officers were not having a good day. First they got calls about a green-faced maniac causing public disturbances and raiding restaurants all over Konoha and even humiliating their clan heiress, although one certain member of the branch family did found the news of Hinata running around naked with her underwear over her head hilarious. Besides the fact that it's their duty, targeting the clan head's daughter made it personal for Hiashi, who demanded the culprit to be taken in. Little did the officers know that their day was about to get worse…

While the officers were tracking down their quarry, Shina looked up at the Hokage Monument with a her chin between her thumb and index finger in a thoughtful expression, "Something's missing here…" a light bulb popped into existence above her head and an exaggerated expression that screamed "I got it!" came over her face and she spun into a handywoman's outfit: thick grey gloves, orange and brown plaid shirt that strained against her globes with the sleeves rolled up, brown work trousers, dark-brown steel-toe shoes and a welding mask worn up. She was equipped with a welding torch including fuel tank over her left shoulder, a length of accompanying gas hose over her right shoulder and a utility belt which had an assortment of oversized tools attached to it: a screwdriver, a hammer, pliers, a drill and…a chainsaw! In her right hand was a trowel and bucket, "…and I know JUST what to do about it!" she finished with a huge grin.

She spun back into a tornado again and spun across the First Hokage's face in a spiral-like pattern, covering the entire face in a tornado, before moving on to the next Hokage's face until she was done with the entire monument. The Hashirama's face now sported a troll-face expression, Tobirama's looked like that of a constipated man who had just let a big fart, Hiruzen's had his tongue hanging out as if he were drooling over his favorite orange book, Minato's looked like he saw something that grossed him out on top of the fox whiskers that were added in and for Tsunade it was now an XD-smiley face.

A trio of Hyuuga officers who were nearby stared at the defacement of the Hokage Monument with horror and outrage. One of them barked out, "We have to find that menace before this gets even more out of hand!"

Suddenly Shina popped up dressed like a movie director. She was wearing an orange shirt with white collar and cuffs. The shirt was tucked into brown johdpur pants, which in turn were tucked into black boots. Her outfit was completed by a blue ascot and a red flat hat and she was holding a director's clipboard in one hand and a director's megaphone in the other. She shouted through the megaphone, "OKAY PEOPLE, QUIET ON THE SET!" with her mouth opening roughly four times further than normal as she shouted.

The Hyuuga officers' attention along with that of the passersby was drawn by Shina's loud entry. She zipped over right in front of the Hyuuga officers and pointed at the group as she said, "Ahh, you must be the stinky no-good crooks."

"Center, people. Center!" Shina ordered before pushing the three officers to the middle of the street and adjusting their poses to look ridiculous, blurring between each of them so fast as she did so that the onlookers mistook it for the Body Flicker Jutsu. One of the passersby took out his camera to shoot a picture, prompting the officers to look at the camera.

She gasped and quickly stepped before the right two officers and admonished them, "Do you belong in a barn?! We DO NOT look at the camera. Fourth wall and all that," as she walked over to where the guy with the camera stands.

She held her hands up to frame a shot, "Actors! Now, ready? AC-TION!"

At her command, a miniature tsunami came out of nowhere and washed over the officers. The officers – now completely soaked – exchanged incredulous to each other, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Oh pardon et moi, did I mention this was a high seas adventure?" Shina apologized, although she sounded more amused than sorry. There was a terrible roar and the officers screamed in fright as a giant tentacle that came from nowhere wrapped around them and dragged them away.

"Bravo! Brava!" Shina applauded, framing another shot with her hands before dramatically putting the back of her hand against her forehead and holding her other arm out, "Fear…" she placed her hands on her head in mock fright, "…tear!" and gave her compliments in an exaggerated manner, "I'm believing it, people! Nice squid, too, prop department!"

More Hyuuga officers, led by Hiashi himself, came rushing down the street to apprehend this green-faced menace, who was once again wearing her red pantsuit.

"Stop right there, lady! You are under arrest!" Hiashi ordered, "You will come peacefully or we will use force."

"Hhhmmm, let's see…" Shina mused, looking very thoughtful. A grinding, gnashing sound became audible, the kind of sound a car that was having trouble with its gearbox made. Smoke began to curl out of her ears. After a few moments there was a cymbal crash and a loud cartoonish 'CUCKOOO!' along with several gears and wheels shooting out of her ears followed by large jets of high-pressure steam shooting out with the high-pitched whistling sound of a boiling kettle.

She narrowed her eyes as she recalled how these crooks treated her Naru-Baby. "Force it is!" she announced before performing a couple of somersaults. She jumped extra high on her third somersault and landed dressed in an orange Mortal Kombat-style ninja garb, carrying a ninja sword in each hand.

"This is the ancient fighting style known as…" Shina began and whipped out a multi-barelled blaster gun, "…BLOW 'EM UP REEAAL GOOOD!"

The Hyuugas were stunned as they tried to process what they were seeing until a hail of bullets caught them completely off guard. Within moments they were all gunned down with the exception of Hiashi thanks to his use of the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. Miraculously, while most of the downed officers were quite wounded, nobody was lethally wounded.

Hiashi was seeing red, despite his best efforts not to show it. This woman caused chaos all around the village on HIS watch, she publicly humiliated his daughter, and now she caused bodily harm to his clansmen. This was unacceptable! With a war cry he rushed at Shina to attack, but the redhead just threw a black discus in his path. When he stepped on the discus, he promptly fell through the discus, which turned out to be a hole. Shina stepped over to the edge of the hole and an enlarged ear formed on the side of her head – despite her ears not being visible as they were covered by her new green face – as she listened to Hiashi falling down with a cartoonish falling noise with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Those Hyuugas sure leave a bloody mess behind!" Shina complained as she cast a glance at the downed Hyuugas littered all over the street and spun into a French maid uniform. Pulling out a massive broom, she swept the Hyuuga officers to into a large dustbin, also pulled from nowhere, "There, all neat and tidy!"

It was just as French Maid Shina spun back into her pantsuit that her eyes landed on him! He was with his team and they had apparently just left the Hokage's office after getting debriefed from their mission! And now, here he was – her ultimate idea of eye-candy! Oh, those electric blue gemstones he had for eyes, those radiant golden untamable locks of hair that shined like the sun, those gorgeous whisker marks on his cheeks, that rockin' bod!

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Shina shouted out in a squeal that would make any fangirl proud. The sound of fire alarm bells sprang from nowhere, and dark pink hearts started floating upwards and popping in midair behind her as her eyeballs turned pink, grew into hearts half the size of her head and stretched two whole feet out of her eye-sockets while her jaw literally stretched all the way to the ground, followed by her tongue, which unrolled to a length of about three feet away from her jawline while the rest of her body immediately began spinning in a cyclonic manner, morphing her clothes once again, "DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS HUNK OF UZUMAKI SEX GOD, TWELVE O'CLOCK!"

Naruto and Team Seven had turned to see what all the commotion was about the moment they heard the fangirlish shriek. Before they got a chance to process what was happening, Shina's eyes slammed back into their sockets, her tongue rocketed back into her mouth as her jaw rammed itself back into normal position and her head joined the rest of her body in the cyclone as she made a beeline for Naruto. An instant later, Naruto found himself pushed against a nearby wall from behind!

"Okay, spread 'em, Perp! I'm placing YOU under ARREST!" Shina ordered in a stern but very sultry voice as she started to frisk him.

"Oh, come on, again?!" Naruto cried out in indignation, "What'd I do this time?!"

"You're creating a public disturbance and hindering daily village business by…BEING TOO GORGEOUS AND HUNKY!" Shina fired back, causing Naruto's face to contort in confusion.

"EH?!" was his 'intelligent' response, along with many other passersby who were watching this spectacle unfold. Naruto noticed that her frisking wasn't the usual rough treatment he would receive from the Hyuuga Police Force, but was much more sensual in its execution.

"That's right, Darling! You are SO sexy, it's a CRIME! And it's one I'll GLADLY bring you to justice for," she answered suggestively. As she continued to frisk him, her hand landed on his manhood. Her nose shot out a geyser of blood, her eyes grew to huge proportions and popped out of her head, along with her teeth while the sound of "AAAOOOOOGAH!" could be heard before her features shoved themselves back into her face, now deep red with an exaggerated blush.

She shook her head comically, her blush and nosebleed immediately disappearing, grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around to face her, and brought her hand back to his package, adding with a mischievous, sexy grin, "And if you don't have a permit for this, I'll have to add 'Carrying a Concealed Weapon' to the list of charges as well."

Naruto was now able to get a good look at his assailant. Her face was green and looked rubbery, but it was gorgeous at the same time, framed by red, wavy locks that were worn up and buried underneath a black police officer's hat. Her cherry-red lips were parted in an excitedly sexy smile. Every square inch of skin below her chin was a peachy complexion similar to his mother's skin – in fact, this woman reminded him of his mother in some ways, but he knew she wasn't her, as there were a few marked differences.

She was wearing a light-blue, short-sleeve police uniform shirt, complete with patches and badge, but had three buttons undone at the top, straining to contain what had to be the most enormous pair of breasts Naruto had even seen – even Auntie Tsunade's fell short of these pinnacles of female glory! The shirt was tucked into a black leather skirt that ended just an inch below her seat, and seemed to strain against this green-faced redhead's amazing curves! Out of the skirt came gorgeous long legs that were clothed in black silk hose, and disappeared into calf-high black-leather high-heel platform boots.

Naruto couldn't help but blush deeply at this woman's unparalleled allure. It was a few moments later that he noticed the uncomfortable hardness in his pants that was still being cupped by this insanely sexy bombshell. Her smile only widened as she noticed it as well.

"Na-Ru-TO!" they both heard Sakura growl out before she began to make her way towards the pair with a balled up fist and murder in her eyes.

Shina growled in response to this pink-haired man-girl's aggression, grabbing her fist as she sent it in Naruto's direction. An instant later, Sakura found herself being flung into a large gilded cage that wasn't there just a moment ago before the door was closed and locked. She face-faulted when she saw the green-faced woman who was all over her teammate open her mouth wider than any human being had a right to be able to do…and swallow the key whole.

Once she had swallowed the key, she glared at Sakura and spoke, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a…" she instantly pulled a megaphone from her cleavage and without even pausing in her speech, yelled at Sakura's face, "…SERIOUS IMPULSE-CONTROL PROBLEM?!"

Sakura stiffened and vibrated with the intensity of the sound blast sent in her direction, only recovering once the vibrations stopped.

Once she had recovered, Sakura proclaimed indignantly, "What?! ME?! You're the one who's putting her hands all over Naruto in the middle of the street! Who does he think he is, allowing you to do that to him?! You should be arrested for public indecency!"

"I should be?! I'm not the one exposing ninety percent of my skin to everybody!"

"What do you mean? Where am I exposing too much skin?!"

Raising her megaphone to her lips, Shina once again bellowed at her, "YOUR FOOOOOOORE-HEEEEEEAAAAAAD!"

Sakura face-faulted before a cloud appeared over her head and she squatted while looking down, "My forehead…again?"

"That's right, Billboard!" Shina confirmed with a toothy smile.

"Stop making fun of my forehead!" Sakura shouted.

"Who said I was talking about your forehead, Zits-for-Tits?" Shina dryly pointed out while looking at Sakura's chest, causing said pinkette to deflate in depression.

"BUT! You DO bring up a VERY valid point!" Shina added before turning back to Naruto and speeding to his side, "Naru-Baby! What DO you have to say for yourself? Who DO you think you are, being SO SEXY that I just can't keep my hands off you?!" she finished with a feline growl as she returned to fondling her blond detainee until the moment was ruined when she heard someone shout, "There she is! Don't let her get away again!"

"Guess I overstayed my welcome," Shina dryly noted while she literally moved her eyes to the back of her head and saw it was a squad of Hyuuga police officers running towards her, "Come on, Naru-Baby, let's get you away from these pale-eyed crooks!"

"Whoa!" Naruto yelled, getting no chance to respond as Shina spun herself into a tornado and sucked him in as she made her escape and erratically raced through the streets with a clear destination: the Uzumaki Temple.

 ************* Line Break *************

A mini tornado loudly burst through the doors of the Uzumaki Temple and disappeared into one of the temple's chambers, whirling through the room, restyling it as it did so before vanishing. Naruto wondered where he was – everything was dark. The last thing he remembered was this crazy yet incredibly sexy lady turning into a twister and sucking him up. Suddenly, a light was flipped on, dimly illuminating the room. The room looked like some sort of interrogation room, but as strange as that was, his undivided attention went out to the other person in the room: a mysterious woman dressed like a detective. She was wearing a chic belted beige trench-coat over a ruby-red pantsuit, white shirt and black necktie that could not hide her phenomenal figure despite leaving enough to his imagination. In fact, the shirt was so tight that it looked like a second skin and her breasts seemed to be in constant danger of spilling out if the strained appearance of the fabric and top buttons was anything to go by.

He couldn't get a clear view of her face beside the green tip of her chin and the long, luscious, wavy mane of red hair that framed her face as her face was mostly obscured by the tilted-down beige fedora hat she was wearing. This was the same woman who had just 'arrested' him! There was an alluring sense of mystery around this woman that drew him in, but at the same time the weirdness of the situation freaked him out.

"So you thought you could get away with it, huh?" Shina sternly questioned, snapping Naruto out of his stupor.

"Huh? What? I'm not following you," Naruto asked, confusion clearly written all over his face.

"Oh, don't play innocent now, Naru-Baby," Shina slowly raised her head and gave Naruto a smoky look a she sauntered forward to the table he was sitting at, the sway of her hips that made Naruto's eyes involuntarily follow their motions. She leaned forward with two hands on the table and just as she did so, the sound of stretching fabric could be heard before the top buttons burst apart with a loud 'Pop!' followed by her breasts spilling out. Naruto could only blush as he was treated to a full view of her majestic cleavage. Her necktie was wedged right in-between those glorious orbs and he sub-consciously pictured his manhood being in her necktie's place before shaking his head and trying to shake those thoughts off.

"Oops, I did it again," Shina giggled and cupped her breasts, "These babies just can't be contained, but enough of that. What I was talking about…is THIS!" she finished as she placed several pictures on the table.

Naruto's face-faulted in shock and he began to stammer upon seeing the pictures that were supposed to serve as evidence, "Wh-wha…? What is this?!"

These were XXX-rated pictures of him having sex with the green-faced lady before him! But that was impossible; he was a virgin for Kami's sake! And if that wasn't bad enough, these images were so graphic that they would make even the likes of Anko Mitarashi blush! Hell, he didn't even knew human bodies could contort like that or ever thought of using his Shadow Clone Jutsu or Sexy Jutsu like that!

"THIS…" Shina answered accusingly, pointing at the pictures for emphasis, "…is evidence of what you have done!"

"This can't be right!" Naruto denied vehemently.

"So you deny it?" Shina questioned. Her tone was accusing yet sexually charged as well. She held one of the pictures up in his face, "Take a good look at it, Mister. Do you see the look of pure bliss on your victim's face while she screams your name? You thought you could give a girl such a good time and not give her a repeat experience?"

"But I never had sex before! I never did any of this!" Naruto blurted out, cutting Shina off.

Shina had the decency to look somewhat sheepish, "Oh, right. I guess you didn't do this then…" her mouth literally stretched in an ear-to-ear smile, showing all her teeth and she excitedly exclaimed with a gravelly, throaty growl, "…BUT YOU'RE ABOUT TO!"

Naruto almost fell from his chair, "EH?!"

"We're in the darkroom, Naru-Baby, and you know what people do in the darkroom," Shina said coyly. The color drained from Naruto's face and she giggled, "Don't be afraid Honey…" and grabbed the lapels of her trench-coat. With a quick jerk she pulled her trench-coat open and let it drop to the ground along with her fedora hat, revealing she was all dressed up as a sexy nurse, complete with a thermometer in her cleavage and leaned forward with a lustful smile on her face, " …because the Love Doctor is here to cure you of your virginity!"

Naruto's reaction was to spin around and make a run for it. This woman was really hot, ridiculously so, but she was now really freaking him out. Shina's smile only grew wider as she saw Naruto run out of the door. "Gotta love it when a man plays hard to get," she commented to nobody in particular before she ran after him, "Somebody STOP ME!"

As he ran as fast as his legs could him through the Uzumaki Temple, Naruto could make out the faint yet steady clicking noise of Shina daintily mincing her way through the hallway as she followed him. When he looked back he saw that she was dressed in a pale blue full ankle-length dress that looked as though there a hula hoop in the bottom of the skirt and she wore a bonnet on her head, from under which cascaded a length of elaborate blonde curls. Her lace-gloved hands carried an open parasol over one shoulder.

"Ah do decl-AY-ah Suh, you qw-AH-t turn mah hey-ud!" Shina said in an atrocious Southern accent and turn her head did, suddenly spinning like a top, accompanied the sound of somebody blowing into a whizz whistle.

"Leave me alone!" Naruto yelled as he picked up the pace. Not a moment later a mini tornado blew past him and settled in front of him. It dissipated revealing Shina, clad in a red toga and crown, a book in her left hand and a torch with a light the size of a beach ball held in her right hand.

"But I'm carrying such a torch for you!" Shina called after him.

"Erk!" Naruto grunted before turning around and running into one of the temple's chambers. Moments later he came running back out of the room with Shina hot on his tail, looking like a female version of the Human Torch.

"You make me so hot, Honey!" Shina shouted as she followed Naruto into another room.

Just like the previous time, Naruto came running out of the room. There was a clunking sound as an old oil lamp hopped after him in a series of bunny-rabbit hops with the clunking noise mainly coming from its loose lid. There were several squeaky noises, the kind that would be made by polishing a metal surface with a cloth. A plume of green smoke puffed out of the lamp's spout, congealing into a figure; the very well endowed form of Shina with waist length red hair and wearing what appeared to be a bra made out of brass coins and a gauzy veil designed to hide the lower half of the face. She did not have any legs; instead, below her waist was a plume of green smoke that led back into the spout of the lamp.

"Command me Master, command your willing love slave!" Shina called out, floating after Naruto with the lamp rapidly clunking after her.

After several more doors and corners, Naruto thought he had finally managed to shake her off, but then there was a loud thud and the ground buckled under his feet, knocking him off balance. Scrambling upright, he turned to see Shina coming around the corner looking like a feline predator. She looked very much like a feline predator indeed; she was visibly more muscular whilst retaining a degree of sexy sleekness of body and she was wearing a skimpy tiger-skin bikini, stockings and heels that made her look like a sexy oni demon – an effect that was heightened by her skin color, which had turned red, and the two horns which were poking through her hair, which had become wild and spiky and had changed color to midnight black, and not to mention the kanabo she was swinging in her right hand.

"C'mon Babe, let's get wild!" Shina wildly grinned, displaying a set of panther-like fangs that somehow made her seem even sexier.

"Wha…" Naruto quickly got back to his feet, turned around and ran for all he was worth. Shina's grin only grew wider and sprang after him.

Moments later Shina was running after Naruto dressed like a black-colored, sexualized version of a western gunslinger: cowboy hat, duster coat, trousers, heeled boots, bolo tie, revolver at her waist and a waistcoat that exposed her bellybutton and cleavage.

"Make my date," Shina said, her accent sounding like Dirty Harry.

This was followed by Naruto being followed by Shina dressed in a white and red toga and a laurel crown, like a Roman empress.

"And I shall treat you like a king," Shina declared in a classical Latin accent with her legs in a circular blur as she sped after him.

"This is insane," Naruto panted after dashing into another room and quickly barricading the door with the available furniture. Seeing a phone, he tried to contact the Hyuuga Police Force, such was his desperation to get out of his predicament, "Hello? I wanna report a maniac on the loose!"

The response he got took him surprise; Shina's head popped out of the phone horn and with her lips puckered and puffed up half the size of her head she kissed him on the lips with an cartoonish smooch sound. The rest of her body quickly followed as she jumped out of the phone horn and she quickly spun around to morph her outfit again.

"Naruto, oh Naruto! Wherefore art thou going Naruto?" Shina, now dressed in a Victorian-style dress and white wig and sporting a phony jet-black mole on next to the corner of her mouth, recited in a Shakespearean manner as she struck an over-the-top hands-on-heart pose.

"Ah!" Naruto rammed through the barricade, too scared to stay around. Shina followed him down the hallway, bursting out of the room dressed like a sexy firefighter.

"Baby, I'm on fire!" Shina shouted as she was surrounded by a plume of flames.

Another door carefully opened and Naruto's head poked out to see if the coast was clear. Confirming that the green-faced lady was out of sight as she chased his shadow clone, he made a quick break for the temple's exit. His moment of relief was short-lived though.

"NyaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaa!" could be heard as Shina, completely bare-chested and dressed in nothing more than some kind of loincloth, swung around the building on a vine, yodelling like a falsetto air raid siren.

Naruto blanched and immediately dashed back into the temple. Naruto's mad dash brought him to the bedroom of the temple. He quickly shut the door and decided his best bet was to hide in the closet.

"I should be safe in here," Naruto sighed. It was then that he bumped into something. He reached up with his hand to feel what he bumped into. It felt soft, spherical…and warm? He tried to grab what he guessed to be some kind of ball, but was surprised to hear a duck toy's squeak and a feminine giggle when he accidentally squeezed whatever he just grabbed. Suddenly a light switched on, causing him to briefly squint. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a green-face bearing an earsplitting grin. His face turned as red as a tomato as he saw his hand was holding her breast when he tilted his head down to see what he was holding. "Ahh!" a startled Naruto cried as he jumped back out of the closet, stumbling and falling on his bum.

Shina stood there dressed in a playboy bunny costume with a penis-shaped carrot in her hand. She suggestively stuck the carrot in her mouth before taking a bite out of it, all the while shooting Naruto sexy, lustful looks.

"Eh, what's up Stud?" Shina asked in a Bugs Bunny-like manner, "You wanna go down the wabbit hole with your carrot?"

She received no response from Naruto, whose throat had gone dry. The string of bizarre occurrences caused by meeting this insanely sexy knockout and her sheer sex appeal had reached its inevitable conclusion and short-circuited his brain for it couldn't cope with what he was seeing.

"Bha-bh-bh-But I…" Naruto began sputtering in an attempt to voice any objection his mind could conjure, only to come up with nothing.

"Oh, come now, Stud," Shina continued huskily, putting a hand on his shoulder, spinning him around and into a brown hunter's outfit complete with a hunter's hat, except the shirt had no sleeves and the bottoms were shorts.

"I know this might be sudden…" she began rubbing her hands on his bare arms and around his back, "…but I know you've been on the hunt."

"Eh?" he replied with little more than a whimper at this woman's wonderful ministrations.

"You know. The hunt for love," she breathed just a few inches from his face, "And every hunter knows…" she captured his lips in a sensual kiss and caressed his tongue with her own before he could stop her or even move and pulled back a few seconds later, "…it's Wabbit Season."

Shina allowed her outfit to morph all by itself without any motion or action on her part, and was suddenly dressed in what looked like white sexy lingerie; strapless brassiere, thong and stockings with shoulder length opera gloves. On closer inspection, the lingerie turned out to actually be fur, growing in a way that mimicked lingerie. A tail suddenly became visible, flicking out from behind her hindquarters, claws glinted on the ends of her fingers and toes and cat ears pricked up from underneath her hair.

"I can't help it," she purred, licking her lips around a set of pointed catlike teeth, "You just bring out the animal in me," before she pounced, knocking Naruto onto the bed, shredding his clothes in the process, and landing straddling him, "Mrroowwr!"

From thereon, the air rang to a series of cartoony 'Make-out' noises underlaid by cries and screams of pleasure as the night passed on in a blur of wild passion and over-lustful sex that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning, ending just before dawn.

"Red hot Baby!"

 ************* Line Break *************

The following day, within the Uzumaki Temple, Kushina was lying in a messed-up bed. She groaned as she slowly woke up. She remembered that strange mask leaping out of her hands and pasting itself to her face, then there was a feeling of immense pressure as if her head was caught in a vice, followed by a moment of roaring vertigo as though rapidly being spun around. From thereon everything was a blur. Suddenly, the memory of her transformation screeched into her mind. Her eyes slammed open, staring in horror at the ceiling. She rapidly patted her face and let out a sigh of relief when she found everything was normal. Then one memory after another hit her.

The memory of the mayhem she caused in the village caused her to wince at the sheer absurdity of her actions. She blushed at the memory of how she seduced her son. She nearly fainted from embarrassment when the memory of the hours after that smashed into her brain.

"Calm down, Kushina. It's just a dream, it has to be," she repeated over and over again in the hopes that this would make it true. Sitting up, she blanched when she noticed her son lying next to her, fast asleep. Looking around in panic, she realized she was not in her bedroom as she first thought, but in the bedroom of the renovated Uzumaki Temple from her memories. Her fears were confirmed when she lifted up the bed covers; both she and Naruto were stark naked.

"Oh no, what have I done…" Kushina whispered in horror. She was his mother! While incest was practiced in clans in order to keep their bloodlines pure, it was still rare for parent and child to have sex and it was often heavily frowned upon outside of clans with bloodlines as most people drew the line there. Naruto was never taught about the ways of their clan. If he knew she had hit on him and slept with him, that she was in love with him, he would certainly be disgusted with her. The thought made her heart clench. Even if he wasn't, even if he returned her feelings, she'd only end up making his life so much harder when everybody would come down on him because of their relationship. She had to get out of here before he woke up! Careful not to wake Naruto, she quickly picked up her clothes and threw them on, grabbed the mask and fled the Uzumaki Temple with one thought on her mind: she could not lose her baby boy, no matter what.

 **End of Chapter**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **First off, it took a while to get this chapter over with, but better late than never. This marks Kushina's first time as The Mask, or Shina as she has taken to calling herself. I hope you guys liked it!**_

 _ **Check out my profile page for the latest status updates on my stories and other announcements.**_


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